


Once Upon a Dream

by marywhale



Series: Sleeping Beauty AU [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Still Faerun, Humor, M/M, Romance, Sleeping Beauty Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-22 16:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22319251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marywhale/pseuds/marywhale
Summary: “I am His Royal Highness, Prince Kravitz of Neverwinter,” Kravitz says, focusing on Taako, sprawled out on the floor. “I was cursed to prick my finger on my twenty-fifth birthday and fall into a deep sleep that could only be broken by true love’s kiss. A sleep you woke me from.”Taako, who apparently has no idea who Kravitz is and was definitely in the middle of robbing the palace when he stopped and decided to kiss an unconscious body, freezes in place, eyes wide with surprise.“Holy shit,” says the human man standing behind him. “This is totally worth twenty gold.”Kravitz wakes up five hundred years in the future. Taako grapples with the consequences of waking a sleeping a prince. True love involves more breaking and entering than one might think.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Series: Sleeping Beauty AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603063
Comments: 120
Kudos: 800





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Herbgerblin (TheEverlastingRandom)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEverlastingRandom/gifts).



> This fic is a direct sequel to Cut from the Dream and won't make much sense unless you read that first.
> 
> This fic is also a present for Herbgerblin, number one gerblin in my book. Happy birthday, Joc! This fic comes a month late, but I very much hope you enjoy this belated birthday gift! I've written you the best thing I could think of: boys kiss.

Kravitz has known he was cursed since he was small. His mother didn’t believe in shielding him from something that would shape his life the way the curse did. Nor did she believe in accepting the hand Kravitz was dealt because _she_ had enemies—curses could be broken, or, if not broken, _coerced_ to circumvent whatever misfortunes their caster intended.

The curse, cast by a necromantic cult who wanted to punish the queen for outlawing their rituals, said Kravitz would prick his finger on his sixteenth birthday and die. The only way to save him was through necromancy. The queen refused. She wouldn’t lose her principles trying to break the spell and she wouldn’t send Kravitz away to try and shield him from it. She would make sure Kravitz had a happy, healthy childhood. She would go above mortal heads to find a way to change the spell.

And so the queen entreated Istus, the goddess of fate, to change the course of her son’s life. To work around the spell so Kravitz wouldn’t pay for her mistakes. Istus took pity on the queen and her young son. She tied the long thread of Kravitz’s life to another and told the queen he wouldn’t die, when he pricked his finger, and would instead fall into a deep sleep—the magic from the curse that was meant to kill him would protect him instead, keeping his body and surroundings frozen in time until his true love came and woke him with a kiss.

“That’s great,” said the queen. “Sixteen is a little _young_ for true love though, don’t you think?”

Istus thought about it for a moment, staring into the future, and agreed.

So Kravitz’s fate changed—he would still prick his finger, but he wouldn’t die and he wouldn’t be sixteen. On his twenty-fifth birthday he would fall into a deep sleep, like death, and would only wake for true love’s kiss. The queen relaxed. Knowing what was supposed to happen meant she could prepare for it.

Kravitz grew up like any other prince. He was well-educated and well dressed, kept just shy of spoiled rotten by his doting mother. He took to music like a duck to water and poured himself into learning instruments, into sponsoring the arts and composers across the country. He learned how to shape his music into magic. He lived the best life he could knowing that one day his birthday would come and the curse would catch up with him.

He wasn’t expecting his mother to pass away before the curse took hold or to be so caught up in mourning her he nearly forgot his own birthday. It was only by chance that a courtier asked if the soon-to-be-king would like to mark the day with a party that he realized what was about to happen.

Kravitz and his mother had had plans in place—a house, in the country, where Kravitz would go. No announcement of the curse or how to break it because who ever heard of true love coming from a contest? It had to be fate or the spell wouldn’t be broken.

Instead, Kravitz banished everyone from the palace. All his advisors and courtiers and servants. The kingdom couldn’t be without someone to rule it for long. If it was the _palace_ that got caught up in the curse, someone would have to come quickly. Someone would find a way in and break the spell. Kravitz would wake up and go back to planning his ascent to the throne.

Alone in the palace, Kravitz went to his sanctuary—the place he felt most at home—his music room. He picked up his violin, thinking about composing, or maybe just playing his mother’s favourites while he collected himself and prepared to go find a needle to prick his finger on, but when he sat on the settee something jabbed his index finger.

Kravitz only just had time to register that someone must have dropped an embroidery needle on the settee and not realized what they were doing before the curse took hold of him and everything went _black_.

#

Kravitz wakes in a dark room with a strange elf standing over him—an elf who yelps and jumps back like he’s just seen a ghost. An elf who apparently has _no_ idea who Kravitz is and was definitely in the middle of robbing the palace when he stopped and decided to kiss the unconscious man sleeping in the room he and his companions had just broken into.

"Did you kiss me?" Kravitz asks, glancing at the candlesticks that he watched fall out of the man—Taako's—bag. What kind of name is Taako anyway? Kravitz holds his bow steady, pointing it Taako and his companions. "Is that my mother's silver?"

Taako glances down at the candlesticks. "I'm, uh, polishing them," he says, picking them up and sticking them back in his bag. “Hey, why are you asking all the questions here? We’re tax-payers. We’re not doing anything wrong. This is probably technically public property. What’s your name?”

Kravitz draws himself up on the settee, squaring his shoulders and tilting his chin. Taako is... handsome. Gorgeous, actually, but Kravitz feels disoriented and confused and this isn't anything like what he planned when he decided to let the curse happen in the palace.

“I am His Royal Highness, Prince Kravitz of Neverwinter,” he says, focusing on Taako, sprawled out on the floor. “I was cursed to prick my finger on my twenty-fifth birthday and fall into a deep sleep that could only be broken by true love’s kiss. A sleep you woke me from.”

Taako goes wide-eyed, freezing in place. Obviously, they'd successfully repressed news about what the curse meant. Kravitz wishes he could be happier about that.

“Holy shit,” says the human man standing behind the elf who is apparently Kravitz’s true love. “This is totally worth twenty gold.”

Kravitz pulls his eyes off of Taako, focusing on the human. “Twenty gold?” he repeats.

“It was a bet,” says Taako’s dwarf friend. “Twenty gold to kiss you.”

“You bet your friend twenty gold to kiss someone who was sleeping?” Kravitz sets the bow in his hand down on the couch because his violin is on the floor and he’s _pretty_ sure that even if he needs to fight the three of them, it won’t be hard.

“To be fair,” says the human, “we didn’t know you were sleeping. We thought you were dead.”

When Kravitz was a teenager daydreaming about true love’s kiss this is _not_ how he imagined it would go. He reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Do you think kissing a dead body is _better?_ ”

“... No,” the man admits, after a telling silence.

“Okay, this is ridiculous,” the elf—Taako—says, sounding just this side of hysterical. “True love’s kiss. The curse. Your, uh, your whole _thing_. I mean, you’re telling me that Prince Kravitz the Vanished has just been taking a _nap_ for _five-hundred years_? I mean, obviously you broke in too. There’s no need to be all, like, _dramatic_ about covering it up. I get it. I’d want to play dress up and wander around the palace.”

He keeps talking, but Kravitz stops registering what he’s saying, caught on one _very_ important piece of information that Taako breezed right over.

“Stop,” he says. “What do you mean five _hundred_ years?”

That’s… impossible. Five hundred years was not part of the plan. The plan was… a decade, maybe. At _most_. Kravitz took the whole _palace_ out with him. People should have been clamouring to get inside and figure out what happened.

Taako frowns. “Did I stutter? Five hundred years. Four hundred and ninety-seven if you want to get pedantic about it.” His eyes narrow. “Are you about to sit there looking like the brooding hero out of a period romance and ask me what year it is? Because cha’boy has better things to do tonight.”

“We’re liberating valuables,” the dwarf adds.

Kravitz feels hysterical. The man who’s supposed to be his true love is in the process of robbing his house and thinks Kravitz is _lying_. Which, if he really _has_ been asleep for five centuries, is probably a fair assumption. “Who is your monarch?” he asks, in lieu of asking the year which maybe _had_ been his first instinct. “The line of succession couldn’t have been clear after me. Was there a war?”

“We don’t have a monarch,” the human says. “We’ve got a democratically elected representative government. Are you okay? You don’t look good. Do you want some jerky? I’ve got jerky.”

“I need a drink,” Kravitz says, lurching to his feet and walks past Taako and his friends, out into the dark hallway. Kravitz doesn’t need light to navigate the palace. He grew up in it. He knows it like the back of his hand, and the palace must recognize him too because as Kravitz walks down the hallway towards the private reception parlour the sconces lining the wall flicker to life, lighting his way.

He can hear the other three following cautiously behind him, whispering frantically to themselves, but he’s less concerned with them and more concerned with the fact that he is a man out of time and, apparently, a king without a kingdom.

The door to the parlour opens for him when he draws close. Inside, the lights are on and a fire is crackling cheerfully in the fireplace. Kravitz makes a beeline for the drinks cabinet and the crystal decanter of brandy sitting on top of it.

“Are you homeless?” Taako asks, following him into the parlour. “If you’ve been living in the palace I _get it_ , but the joke is—I mean, I don’t even know why you’d make that kind of joke.”

Kravitz pours himself a generous glass and turns to look at Taako and his friends. “Exactly,” he says. “ _Why_ would I joke about this?”

“I don’t know, sleeping beauty, but this whole thing is—it’s suspicious, don’t you think? We get through the spells and the vines and the window easy as pie and then _you’re_ here, waiting. Is this, like, a security system? You could be an illusion.”

“Uh,” says the human, his eyes on the large painting hanging above the fireplace. “Taako?”

“What?” Taako glances back at his friend, who points up at it.

Kravitz hadn’t thought about the portrait before coming to the parlour, but there it is, hanging above the fire—proof. A painting of Kravitz and his mother completed just a year before her death. She’s sitting front and center, regal and resplendent in black, a raven perched on her outstretched arm. Kravitz stands behind her, a violin in his hand, looking straight ahead, dressed in one of his best suits with artistically-embellished jewelled beads braided into his hair.

“Well, _I’m_ convinced,” says the dwarf.

Taako says nothing. He crosses the room to where Kravitz is standing and for a moment Kravitz thinks he’s maybe going to be punched—or maybe kissed—and is unsure of which he’d hate less, but instead Taako plucks the brandy snifter out of Kravitz’s hand and brings it to his lips, draining the glass in one long swallow.

He wipes a hand across his mouth and sets the glass down on the cabinet. “I know you don’t know what this means yet,” Taako says, looking Kravitz dead in the eye. “But I need you to know that Lup is _never_ going to let me live this down.”

Taako is a criminal, which is _certainly_ not how Kravitz thought this would go, but his eyes are bottle green and up close Kravitz can see freckles scattered across his tanned skin. His lips are a light pink and plush and Kravitz has the ghost of a memory of Taako’s mouth pressed to his. It can’t be real, though, because Kravitz wasn’t _awake_ for the kiss.

Kravitz steps to the side, walking around Taako to take a seat on one of the armchairs in front of the fire. Now that he’s paying closer attention, he can see signs that they’re telling the truth about the time that’s passed. The clothes Taako and his friends are wearing look nothing like what Kravitz is used to. They’re brighter and more casual with less layers, because apparently in the last five hundred years everyone decided to be _cold_ all the time.

“I didn’t catch your names,” he says, to the human and the dwarf. “Five _hundred_ years?”

“Yeah, you slept through a lot,” the human says, sitting on the couch. “I’m Magnus Burnsides.”

“Merle Highchurch,” says Merle, hauling himself up onto the couch beside Magnus. “Dwarven cleric.”

Kravitz pauses, looking at Merle. “And… does your god condone theft?”

Merle shrugs. “We’re all equal in Pan’s eyes,” he says. “Can I get some of that brandy?”

Magnus perks up on the couch. “Oh yeah, Taako pour me a glass too.”

“What am I, your servant? Pour it yourself.” Taako drops into the second armchair. “I’m trying to figure out what the fuck to do about this whole prince situation.”

“I’m ordained for weddings,” Merle says, getting up to help himself to Kravitz’s liquor. “Friends and family discount.”

Kravitz would protest three strangers making themselves at home like this, but one of them is apparently his soulmate so really he has bigger things to worry about. “The _prince situation_ has opinions on what should be done too,” he says. “My mother and I had a plan, but obviously that didn’t… work out the way we thought it would. I’m sure if I explain the curse to your current government…” 

He trails off because honestly? Kravitz isn’t sure where to go from here either. It’s been five centuries. He has a lot to catch up on. He can’t quite wrap his head around just how long it’s been. In the palace, everything looks the same, but it _would_ because the curse was supposed to protect him and keep everything in stasis when it took hold.

“Yeah,” Taako says. “Fuckin’ _exactly_.” He pulls a long, flat oval made of glass out of his pocket and taps it with his thumb. The glass lights up, time clearly displayed over a picture of Taako and a woman who looks a lot like Taako. “Shit, we gotta bounce if we wanna make sure we’re out of here before security sees the broken window.” He stuffs the oval in his pocket before Kravitz can get a better look at it. “Okay, your highness, since I’m not sure what the fuck else to do here, here’s what I got—you come crash at my place for a bit. We cover up the whole breaking and entering thing, figure out what your exit strategy is, and then when we’ve all got our story straight, you can go out and tell the world you’re the once and future king or whatever.”

Kravitz frowns at Taako. “You want me to come to your home so I can help keep you from getting in trouble for breaking into the palace?”

“ _And_ breaking your curse,” Magnus adds. “Don’t forget that. You kind of owe us one. If we didn’t break in, you’d still be sleeping.”

Kravitz hates to admit it, but Magnus has a point. He’s also not sure what else to do. “All right,” he agrees. “I’ll keep you from being arrested, but you are _not_ stealing my family heirlooms on the way out.”

“What about one thing each?” Merle asks. “As payment.” He holds up the decanter of brandy. “Can I have this?”

“Oh! Do you have any puzzle boxes?” Magnus asks. “I’m a carpenter.”

Kravitz looks at Taako, sitting in the armchair, who just shrugs. “I’m keeping my candlesticks,” he says. “I’m the one who actually broke the curse. These two chucklefucks are just riding my coattails.”

“I _drove_ us here,” says Magnus. “Neither of you has your license.”

Kravitz has barely been awake half an hour and already he feels a headache coming on. “There should be a puzzle box in the library,” he says, getting to his feet. “We can make a stop on our way out.”

#

Taako isn’t sure how seriously he should be taking what’s happening right now. He feels a lot like running because no matter _how_ hot a person is, having someone declare you their one true love ten seconds after you realize they’re not dead is kind of a lot. Kravitz actually seems to be who he says he is too. The huge fuck off portrait, the way his clothes fit him perfect, the way Kravitz holds himself, all straight-backed and self-assured, the way he knows the way to the library and finds the puzzle box right away—it’s all evidence mounting up in Kravitz’s favour.

Plus, the palace... _responds_ to him. There’s no other way to put it. Doors open and lights come on, fires light. Taako may be in the middle of a B&E gone wrong, but he’s a very good wizard and he knows blood magic when he sees it. The palace is attuned to Kravitz and his needs. It _serves_ him because Kravitz is a _prince_ and maybe technically the ruler of their country. 

Taako’s a wizard, not a political scientist. He’s not exactly sure how the whole democracy thing is gonna go now.

Kravitz looks physically pained as they walk into the room with the broken window. In retrospect, Taako probably could have used magic to be a little more subtle about the break in, but it was supposed to be a smash and grab. How was he supposed to know he’d have to actually see the aftermath of shattering someone’s centuries old heritage?

“Chill, my dude,” he says, patting Kravitz’s shoulder. “I’ll repair it once we’re outside.”

It’s not because Taako feels bad. He’s got nothing to feel bad _about_. But if he’s gonna be spending more time with Kravitz then he should probably be polite or whatever and fixing the window isn’t hard.

Kravitz looks at him and smiles, raising an eyebrow. “Covering your tracks?”

“I’m being _nice_ ,” Taako protests. “This is Taako doing you a _favour_. Nobody’s gonna get close enough to the palace to notice with the vines and shields and—oh fuck.” If Taako _broke the curse_ when he kissed Kravitz then, yeah, they _are_ going to get close to the palace. It’s gonna be real obvious that something went down when security shows up to do their rounds.

“The curse is broken,” Kravitz agrees, obviously amused.

“Uh,” says Magnus, hanging half out the window. “I think you might have spoken too soon on that one, actually. It’s still looking pretty cursed out here.”

“What?” Kravitz frowns, striding across the room in a way that makes his embroidered jacket flare out behind him, all dramatic. Taako’s not into cosplay, but Kravitz can pull off the old-fashioned suit he’s wearing like he’s a Fantasy Disney prince.

Which, Taako guesses, is appropriate.

Kravitz pokes his head out of the window beside Magnus and swears. “This isn’t how we thought this would go. The protection the curse provided should be gone now.”

“This isn’t exactly the night _we_ had planned either, thug.” Taako should have demanded the brandy for himself instead of letting Merle take it. “Seriously, unless you wanna be on the news tomorrow morning we need to get going.”

Merle, both arms wrapped around his heavy decanter of fancy-but-kinda-gross alcohol, raises his eyebrows at Taako, waggling them suggestively. “Eager to get home and show the prince around?”

“It’s true love,” Magnus says, leaning back into the room and grinning. “Why wait to learn each other’s last names, right?”

Taako crosses his arms over his chest. “I hate you both.”

Magnus laughs. “If you think we’re bad, wait until you explain this to Lup.”

Taako doesn’t just hate Magnus and Merle, he hates _everything_. “I changed my mind,” he says. “I live here now. Tell Lup I died.”

“Who is Lup?” Kravitz asks, glancing from Taako to Magnus and Merle. “This is the second time you’ve brought them up.”

“She’s my sister,” says Taako, tugging at the end of his braid. Maybe he could just knock Kravitz out and book it—refuse to deal with whatever the fuck has gone wrong here.

He glances at Kravitz. He’s still got the handsome thing going for him, but beneath the good posture and fancy clothes he looks… lost. Five hundred years. Everyone Kravitz has ever known or loved is gone. And Taako’s the one who woke him up.

Taako sighs and lets go of his braid. “Okay, fuck it,” he says. “Don’t worry, Lup’ll be nice to you. It’s _me_ she’s gonna roast. I woke you up. The least I can do is help you figure out what the fuck to do now.”

#

Taako opens the door to his and Lup’s dinky little two bedroom walk up to find Lup perched on the kitchen counter in pajama shorts and one of Barry’s awful free conference t-shirts— _Necronomi-Con ‘14! Raise a little hell!_ —eating ice cream straight from the tub. She takes in the sight of Taako, coming in late after a _secret mission_ , with a hot guy on his heels, and jumps to exactly the wrong conclusion.

“Taako, _gross_ ,” she says, making a face. “You didn’t even text to warn me. I am _not_ putting on real clothes to go to Barry’s at this time of night.”

“It’s not _like that_.” Taako scowls at Lup as he steps into the apartment. “It’s… complicated. This is Kravitz. He’s staying with us for a bit while we figure some shit out.”

“What shit?” asks Lup, eyes on Kravitz and his fancy clothes. Kravitz is looking pretty much anywhere but at her. Taako didn’t pay that much attention in history class, but he knows women didn’t hang around in t-shirts and shorts five centuries ago. Lup’s probably scandalizing the prince Taako just brought into their home.

That, or Kravitz is taking in the all the signs that he really _is_ stuck in the future scattered around the apartment—the TV, the microwave, Lup’s laptop open on the coffee table. Kravitz spent the ride over in Magnus’s car looking vaguely ill and a little shell-shocked by what, for him, must have been some big fuckin’ changes to Neverwinter since he last saw the city.

Taako kind of feels bad for him. It’s a lot to have thrown at you all at once.

There’s really no way he’s getting out of explaining this to Lup.

“Okay,” says Taako. “Well, uh, first, don’t get _mad_ , but you know how I’ve had this… lifelong dream of getting into the palace because it’s just _sitting there_ , full of valuables, and nobody would ever know?”

There’s a pause. Lup gives Kravitz’s obviously period-accurate clothing a suspicious once over. “Yeah,” she says. “The plan that’s never going to work and also is _bad_ because even if you figure out how to get through the shield around the palace it makes way more sense to go public with the solution and ride that publicity wave to the top than it does to rob it?”

“Uh-huh. That one.” Taako gestures towards Kravitz. “So this is Prince Kravitz and I _may_ have accidentally woken him from a curse when Magnus, Merle and I broke into the palace tonight. So, uh, he’s a _little_ confused and gonna stay with us for a bit.”

“Taako.” Lup sets down her tub of ice cream, voice dangerously low. “Are you trying to tell me you broke into the palace _without me?_ ”

“That is _not_ the important thing right now,” Taako says, gesturing to Kravitz more emphatically this time. “ _This_ is what you should be focusing on!”

“Taako, he is not the first weird, hot guy you’ve brought home,” Lup says. “And there’s _no way_ he’s really Prince Kravitz the Vanished. It’s been five hundred years. Look at him. He’s some dude who got into the palace ahead of you and got caught playing dress up.”

“These are my clothes,” Kravitz says, before Taako can tell Lup that she’s being _rude_ and that he thought of the dress up thing already. He’s not stupid and he feels like they’ve done the whole skeptical thing already—he’s moved on and Lup should too. “Why is everyone so quick to underestimate the curse’s strength?

Taako snorts. “My dude, it took me one try to get through it. I just shifted planes and walked right through the shield. It wasn’t hard.”

“Fuck,” says Lup. “That’s brilliant. You weren’t trying to take down the shields—just go around them. They didn’t resist your magic the same way they do everyone else. That’s fuckin’ _elegant_.”

“I know,” Taako says, preening. “I’m a _baller_ goddamned wizard.”

“I would be more impressed if there wasn’t a dude in fantasy Alexander Hamilton cosplay standing in our apartment,” Lup says. “Seriously, Taako, where did you get him and how did you get him to dress up for you? If this is a kink thing—” 

Taako cuts her off by reaching into his satchel and pulling out the heavy silver candlesticks he stole. He sets them down _firmly_ on the counter. “I got into the palace,” he says, looking her dead in the eye. “I stole some silver and accidentally woke a sleeping prince.”

Lup reaches out, picking up one of the candlesticks and turning it over in her hands. “Fuck,” she says. “Okay, that’s—yeah, this is real silver, huh? This is the _expensive_ shit.” She looks up at Kravitz, taking him in with more consideration this time. “Do you want to sit or something? Taako sucks at explaining shit and I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a _while_ while I try and understand what the fuck is happening here.”

“Why don’t we all sit?” Kravitz suggests, all polite and proper. “There’s a lot to discuss.”

Lup sizes Kravitz and his heavily embroidered, _probably_ silk coat and ruffles shirt situation up. “Okay, you know what? That’s probably fair.” She grabs her ice cream off the counter and sits on the coffee table. “So… you’re a prince.”

Kravitz takes a seat on the couch. He looks… incredibly out of place. It’s not just the clothing, it’s his whole… everything. His skin and hair are _flawless_ , and he holds himself with the kind of self-assuredness Taako guesses you get from knowing everyone around you has to listen to you no matter what. Taako can see why Lup didn’t buy the story—even if the centuries old prince woken from a curse thing were more believable, Kravitz doesn’t _look_ real.

It’s annoying, honestly. Who gave him the right?

“I’m a prince,” Kravitz agreed, a kind of half-smile flitting across his face. “I was _supposed_ to be a king very shortly, but… fate intervened.”

“We don’t have to bring fate into this,” Taako interjects, suddenly on high alert. “One person’s fate is another person’s accident, right?”

Lup perks up, digging a spoon into her ice cream. “Why doesn’t Taako want to talk about fate?” she asks, eyes on Kravitz. “What’s he trying to hide from me?”

“When I was an infant, I was cursed to prick my finger on a needle and die. My mother turned to the goddess of fate, Istus, to change the curse,” Kravitz says, equally focused on Lup. Taako hates this. “Istus did the best she could. Instead of death when I pricked my finger I would fall into a deep sleep from which I could only be woken by true love’s kiss.”

Lup’s going to tease Taako _mercilessly_ for this. She’ll never let him hear the end of it, but at least Kravitz gave her an edited cliff’s notes version of what happened in the palace because—

Kravitz gestures towards Taako, like he could sense Taako’s gratitude and decided he didn’t need it. “Taako’s friends thought I was dead and dared him to kiss my corpse.”

There is a long moment of silence following Kravitz’s declaration. Lup turns to look at Taako, incredulous. “You kissed a _corpse?_ ”

“Way to throw me under the bus, Kravitz!” Taako says. “Aren’t princes supposed to be _polite_? Aren’t you supposed to be _charming_ and _nice?_ ”

“Oh my god,” says Lup. “ _True love’s kiss_. Taako—what did you _do?_ ”

“Woke up a prince, I guess!” Taako throws his hands up in the air. “I don’t know what I did—I just wanted twenty gold from Magnus. Which he didn’t pay me, by the way!”

“You kissed a _corpse_ for _twenty gold_ ,” Lup repeats, like she’s not wearing a t-shirt advertising her love of necromancy. “You’re spending too much time with Barry. I’m cutting you off. You two aren’t allowed to hang out anymore.”

“You can’t cut me off from Barold. He was my friend first,” Taako says, scowling at Lup.

She sticks her tongue out at him. “He’s _my_ boyfriend.”

“Yeah, well, no accounting for taste.”

“You’re lucky I’m eating ice cream right now, or I’d—”

Kravitz coughs, quiet but pointed, cutting off their bickering.

Taako stops glaring at his sister so he can look at the prince he needs to deal with now. The prince he has _no idea_ what to do with. “So anyway,” he says, “Kravitz is gonna stay with us for a bit, I guess. Kind of have to figure out the whole, uh, prince returned from the not-quite-dead thing.”

“Cool,” says Lup, after a beat. “I guess it’s good that you’re taking responsibility for the prince you woke up. Are you giving up your bed or making a _prince_ sleep on the couch?”

“We don’t live in a monarchy anymore. He’s not _my_ prince,” Taako says, even though Kravitz only just found out his curse kick started democracy and rubbing it in probably isn’t the nicest thing Taako could do. “Besides, he spent the last five hundred years sleeping on a couch. What’s a couple more nights?”

When Taako looks at Kravitz, his face is politely impassive. He was probably taught not to say things like _I can’t believe I waited five hundred years for this_ out loud, but his face is saying it for him.

Taako maybe feels a _little_ bad.

“You can take my room,” he says. “If you’re, uh, tired. I guess you did just wake up, but… yeah, it’s fine. I’ll share with Lup.”

“Says _who?_ ” Lup sticks her tongue out at him. “I didn’t say you could share.”

“Maybe I’ll go share with Barry!” Taako says. “Since he was _my_ friend first.”

“Just because my boyfriend _likes_ you is no reason to take advantage of his hospitality,” Lup says. “Fine, you can share with me. Give the prince some pajamas or something first though. I’m uncomfortable just looking at him.”

Taako rolls his eyes and stands up, giving Kravitz an expectant look. “Come on, your highness. I have some sweatpants you can borrow to sleep in.”

Kravitz stands, a slight frown creasing his too-handsome forehead. “What,” he asks, voice teaming with barely concealed dread, “are _sweatpants_?”

Lup’s laughter follows them into Taako’s bedroom.

#

There’s a part of Kravitz that worries if he falls asleep again, it’ll be another five hundred years before he wakes up. With that thought lingering in the back of his mind, changing into the soft, shapeless clothes Taako hands him feels like a mistake.

It’s not that he doesn’t trust Istus, it’s just that _Taako_ doesn’t seem especially thrilled about waking up Kravitz and also Taako kissed him thinking he’d get twenty gold for kissing a _dead body_ isn’t especially romantic.

So maybe it _is_ that he doesn’t trust Istus.

Nobody he’s met dresses well in the future and everything moves too fast and is too brightly lit. There’s no more monarchy and the curse on the palace is still in place so _something_ must have gone wrong. If he falls asleep and doesn’t wake up for a few more centuries it’ll be in line with how everything else is going so far.

Taako’s room is messy and cramped. There are bowls stacked by a pile of books and parchment and clothes strewn all over the floor. The one window in the room is tall and narrow and outside all Kravitz can see is a dark alley and a brick wall. He sits on Taako’s bed—comfortable, actually, with soft sheets—and tries not to overthink things. He’s tired, which is fueling his paranoia about not waking up if he goes to sleep again, but he can’t stay awake forever and the nice thing about the curse is that if it _does_ take hold again it won’t be his problem.

It’s a dark thought. Kravitz rubs a hand over his face and then lays down in defiance of the anxiety curling in the pit of his stomach, staring at the ceiling of the dark room. He means to just lie there and wait until morning, but the clothes are comfortable and the bed is soft and moments after he lies down he’s asleep.

He wakes up to the sound of things clattering outside his room and the smell of food cooking. The light streaming in through the window is tinged green by the thin curtain draped over it. He’s still in Taako’s apartment it’s still the future. There’s a lot he needs to figure out. Kravitz doesn’t want to think about any of it.

He gets out of bed to avoid it, feeling extremely underdressed in navy _sweatpants_ and a too-small, stretchy soft shirt like the one Taako and Lup were wearing. It bafflingly, has the words _THOT POLICE_ written on it in big, block letters. Kravitz’s clothes are hung carefully on the door of Taako’s over-full closet. Kravitz gives them a longing look, but leaves them as he exits Taako’s bedroom.

Taako is in the kitchen, cooking, and as soon as Kravitz steps outside the bedroom he realizes that it’s been _centuries_ since he last ate. Taako’s got bacon sizzling away and is carefully flipping little griddle cakes. There’s a pot bubbling away beside him full of what looks very much like stewing raspberries.

“You cook?” Kravitz asks, surprised. He wouldn’t have pinned Taako for someone who was good in the kitchen, but everything is laid out meticulously and the counters are tidy. It’s the antithesis of Taako’s bedroom.

Taako looks up from flipping his pancakes. “Oh, shit, you’re up” he says. “You’re—oh my _God_.” His voice is downright _gleeful_ as he takes in Kravitz’s outfit, staring at the words on his chest. “You _wore it_.”

Kravitz looks down at his shirt, then back up at Taako. “You gave it to me to wear?”

“Yeah, but—” Taako cuts himself off, grinning. “You know what? Yeah, you’re right. I gave it to you to wear. Thank you for accepting my hospitality. I’m _delighted_.” He slides the griddle cakes out of the pan and onto a waiting plate. “You hungry? I just woke up a magic prince and maybe overthrew the government or something. Who knows how laws work? I’m stress cooking.”

Kravitz’s stomach growls audibly.

“Cool,” says Taako, grabbing the pot and spooning syrupy red berries onto the pancakes. “I’m feeding you. Food is _so_ much better now than it was in your day. Just you wait.”

“I lived in a palace, Taako,” Kravitz says, although Taako’s food _does_ look delicious. “We had professional chefs working for us.”

“Sure, but you didn’t have _me_.” Taako dabs fat off a couple slices of bacon and puts them on the plate, sliding it towards Kravitz. “Take a seat on the couch and try some. You’ll see.”

Taako is very confident in his abilities. Kravitz takes the plate from him, walking to the couch and sitting with the plate balanced on his knees because the table in front of him is covered in papers and books. “It smells good,” he says. “Thank you, Taako.”

Taako plates up his own food and shrugs as he makes his way over to the couch. “Like I said, I’ve got a lot of shit on my plate right now. I need this for _me_ , my dude. Pancakes are peak comfort food.” He sits next to Kravitz, pausing. “You’re welcome though.”

Kravitz cuts into the pancakes on his plate, raising a bite to his lips, acutely aware of Taako watching him eat. He’s prepared to fake enthusiasm for Taako’s cooking, but as soon as he puts his fork in his mouth it becomes abundantly clear that he’s not going to have to.

Maybe it’s because of how long it’s been since he’s eaten _anything_ , but it’s one of the best bites of food he’s ever had. The pancakes are a little greasy, but fluffy—still warm from the pan. The raspberry sauce is _complex_ in a way he wasn’t expecting, scented with thyme and something bitter—almonds, maybe. 

His surprise must show on his face because Taako grins at him, smugly slicing into his own breakfast. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “They’re _great_.”

“Is this what you do?” Kravitz asks, gesturing to his plate with his fork. “I thought you were a wizard.”

“I am,” Taako says. “I’m just _also_ a real fuckin’ good cook. Lup and I used to make a living doing this—the cooking thing. Worked our way through school with this and scholarships. Lup’s doing grad school. I’m… figuring shit out, you know? Taking some _me_ time while she does her PhD. Thinking of maybe doing a, like, Masterchef kind of thing. Launch my TV career.”

Kravitz understands maybe half of the words Taako’s saying. “TV?”

“Oh shit, you don’t know TV yet,” Taako says, perking up. He leans over Kravitz to grab a black box from the couch cushions, wiggling it in his hand. “Just wait.”

Taako points the device in his hand at the large, thin box in front of them and it springs to life, a picture appearing on the screen as sound blares from it. Kravitz tamps down on the urge to jump because he is _not_ going to give Taako the satisfaction. It _is_ amazing though. There’s a woman on screen, explaining the weather as clouds move across a map behind her, and then the image cuts back to a man sitting at a desk.

“Tourists are flocking to the Royal Palace today following a new development in Neverwinter’s most popular historical landmark,” he says. “Brian is at the palace now to tell us more about what’s happening. Brian?”

The image cuts to Brian, a drow with long, white hair and a wide smile. “Oh yes, zere is _great_ excitement here at ze palace, Tom,” he says. “As you can see behind me, ze vines surrounding ze palace have started to bloom. Zis is ze first time in recorded history that we’ve seen zis kind of development. With me now is—”

Taako hits a button and the TV goes silent. Kravitz doesn’t really need to hear whatever the man dressed in a cheap looking shirt with _Royal Palace Guide_ embroidered on his breast pocket is saying about the palace either. His focus is on the sight of the palace behind the two men—wrapped up in thick vines that are much more impressive by the light of day, covered with buds that are showing the faintest hint of pink flowers.

“Fuck,” says Taako. “ _Fuck_ , that’s on me, huh? I did that. I got you out of the palace and— _shit_.”

Kravitz is pretty sure this is on both of them, but he’s also sure this _isn’t_ what was supposed to happen.

He wishes he could talk to his mother. To Istus. To _anyone_ who knows him.

“They really did turn the palace into a tourist destination,” he says, as the image on screen changes, for some reason, to close ups of sandwiches. “This… it’s not what I expected things to be like when I woke up.”

Taako turns the TV off. “Shit, I guess this is… kind of a lot for you too, huh?”

Kravitz glances at Taako and raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah, okay, guess I knew that.” Taako runs a hand through his hair, leaning back against the couch. “Sorry. For, uh, waking you.”

It’s not funny, but Kravitz can’t help laughing. “Thanks,” he says. “I suppose _I’m_ sorry I woke up. I know you were just expecting to… rob my house in peace. Neither of us asked for this.” It’s not a topic Kravitz is especially eager to dwell on. He looks at the TV again, clearing his throat. “So are there other modern things I should know about?”

There’s a beat and then Taako picks up on Kravitz’s hint. 

“Yep, definitely,” he says. “Definitely there are future things you should know about. Let’s start with—okay, let’s go with stones of farspeech.” He pulls out the glass oval Kravitz saw him playing with the night before. “So this has _everything_ on it and you’re not ready for the internet yet, but when you are it’s gonna be a _hell_ of a trip.”


	2. Chapter 2

Taako’s glad he’s an expert at repressing shit or he’d be freaking the fuck out right now. Waking up a prince is one thing—waking up magic vines wrapped around a _whole fucking palace_ is another. There’s no hiding this or pretending it’s not happening. It’s on _TV_ and when he looks there are a million fucking pictures of people posing in front of the palace on Fantasy Instagram.

Maybe he’s lucky and this isn’t on him though. Maybe this is before of Merle. Maybe this is the vines around the palace letting Merle know they’re his _true love_ or whatever. If such a thing exists. Which it definitely doesn’t. Except Taako woke up a sleeping prince and it’s _fate_ and—

Anyway, Taako’s definitely not freaking the fuck out. He sends Kravitz to shower with a change of clothes and watches cat videos while he does some deep breathing. Totally normal, not freaking out stuff.

Lup texts while Kravitz is in the shower to say she’s bringing home Barry, Lucretia, and a pizza for lunch. It hasn’t been that long since he and Kravitz finished their pancakes, but Taako’s never gonna say no to pizza and stress eating some cheese and carbs sounds good because maybe he’s freaking out, like, a totally understandable and _reasonable_ amount right now.

He texts back: _Pepperoni and pineapple._

Lup sends him a puking emoji in response, so at least the prince thing isn’t making her treat Taako and his excellent taste in mass-market pizza any different than usual.

The bathroom door opens and Kravitz steps out, still in Taako’s Neverwinter U sweatpants, with a plain grey t-shirt this time. It’s _slightly_ too small for Kravitz, hugging his chest and arms in a way that would be… very attractive if Taako were attracted to the handsome prince he woke up, but he’s not because he refuses to let a curse tell him who to date.

“Lup’s bringing some people over,” Taako says, before he can get too distracted by the stretch of jersey over Kravitz’s chest. “And pizza. Did you have pizza?”

“Pizza?” Kravitz repeats, which means no, he definitely didn’t. “Is it really a good idea to let more people know about this… situation?”

Kravitz has a point, but also the whole _world_ has seen the vines around the palace starting to bud. There isn’t any point in trying to hide it now. “Pizza’s food. I’d tell her we just had breakfast, but then she’d know how late we got up and I’m not admitting that. And… listen, everyone’s gonna know about this _situation_ eventually. Lup’s bringing over nerds. They might know what’s going on with the whole, y’know, flower thing.”

Kravitz grimaces, which is an accurate summation of Taako’s feelings on the flowers too. “You’re right. There’s not much point hiding this.” He takes a seat on the couch, next to Taako. “Do you really think they’ll have insight into this?”

Lup’s bringing Barry because he’s a nerd and her boyfriend. Lucretia… Lucretia’s got a solid handle on magical theory and practice, but not the way Lup and Barry do. Lucretia was an _English_ major. “Uh, maybe?” Taako shrugs. “Listen, we’re doing our best here and I’m not saying our best is _great_ , but it’s what we’ve got to work with right now. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to get on the news and do an interview with Brian from Channel 6 about how I got dared to kiss a corpse and accidentally woke you up.”

Kravitz actually winces at the word corpse. “We could decide _not_ to tell everyone you thought I was dead.”

Taako wishes. “You don’t know my friends and sister like I do,” he says. “Cat’s already out of the bag, my dude. Can’t put it back. Everyone’s gonna know I kissed a guy I thought I was hot but dead and maybe killed a big portion of Neverwinter’s tourism industry in the process.”

“Isn’t it a little _morbid_ to give tours of a cursed palace you can’t enter that everyone must have thought was full of corpses?” Kravitz asks. “Why is _that_ what they decided to do with it?”

“It’s not like they could tear it down. It has big, fuck-off shields around it,” Taako says. He can’t help sitting up a little straighter, feeling smug. “Nobody else was clever enough to get through them.”

“Which is another thing. Do you think the spell might have let you through the shields because—”

The door swings open and Lup walks in, carrying two large pizza boxes. “I got your gross pepperoni and pineapple and a normal pizza for the rest of us,” she says, as Kravitz gets to his feet. He’s dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, but he holds himself like he’s wearing much fancier clothes—shoulders squared, back straight. “Krav, this is Barry and Lucretia. Barry and Lucretia, this is the prince Taako accidentally woke up when he tried to commit larceny with Magnus and Merle last night.”

“Hi,” says Barry, waving awkwardly as he takes off his shoes by the door. “Lup asked me to consult. She, uh, thought the whole feigned-death sleeping curse thing sounded like it was in my wheelhouse.”

Taako’s eyebrows raise because that’s not a bad idea. “Shit, I didn’t even consider necromancy,” he says. “That would make sense. He didn’t look like he was breathing.”

“I can’t believe it only took twenty gold to make you agree to kiss a corpse,” Lup says, dropping the pizzas on the coffee table. “Taako, we’re poor but we’re not _that_ poor.”

“This must be very overwhelming for you,” says Lucretia, walking over and holding a hand out to Kravitz. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kravitz. Lup asked me to pick you up some reading material. You’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

Kravitz takes Lucretia’s hand and bows over it, managing to make it look elegant despite the fact that he’s wearing Taako’s laundry day clothes. It speaks to a fuckload of practice bowing over hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kravitz says, which is a _far_ cry from how he greeted Taako, Magnus, and Merle. “I appreciate your willingness to assist me.”

“Geez,” says Lup. “The prince thing is a lot more obvious after you’ve had some sleep, huh?”

The corner of Kravitz’s mouth quirks up, breaking the proper facade he had up. “I’ve had plenty of sleep. I believe remembering my manners has more to do with eating for the first time in several centuries than anything else.”

“You’re not polite to _me_ ,” Taako protests, because it’s true—there’s been none of the bowing or drama for him.

Lup snorts. “You’ve done nothing that deserves politeness,” she says. “You stole from him.”

“ _Payment_ ,” Taako protests. “I woke him up—I get to keep some shit. He’s rich. He understands business.”

“No,” says Kravitz. “Lup’s right.”

Taako squawks in protest, shooting Lup a dirty look when she laughs. “I see how it is. Everyone’s ganging up on Taako.”

“Seems like Kravitz is already fitting in just fine,” says Lucretia, tone dry. “I brought you a few books about the Great Shift—when the country got kick started into democracy by the, uh, disappearance of the royal family.” She sets the tote bag she’s carrying down on the coffee table and then pauses, studying Kravitz. “There are… sections in all of them that speculate on the nature of the curse and what happened to you. You may want to skip those.”

Kravitz glances down at the bag. Taako’s never had someone whip out a bag full of books about how he affected the course of history, but he bets it’s weird. Maybe less weird when you’re a prince. Kravitz probably expected books to be written about him eventually. 

“So you ever heard of a spell like this?” Taako asks Barry. “This true love’s kiss thing—that’s bullshit, right? I mean, there’s still vines around the palace. Seems like it was kind of a shitty spell.”

“I, uh, I’ve honestly never heard of a spell like what Lup described,” Barry says, glancing at Kravitz. “What did your family know about it?”

“The original curse was meant as a punishment for my mother. I was supposed to die,” Kravitz says, bluntly. “She had a hardline stance on necromancy. A cult cast the curse shortly after I was born and there was nothing anyone could do to break it completely. My mother told me she went to the temple of Istus to ask her to change my fate and her wish was granted. I would sleep, not die. True love’s kiss would wake me. The spell would put a kind of stasis on me and my surroundings. I… wasn’t supposed to be in the palace, originally, but I forgot about my birthday.”

“You forgot your birthday?” Barry repeats, frowning. “How?”

“His mother died,” says Lucretia, voice gentle. “The queen passed away shortly before the palace was overgrown. There’s been some speculation about the vines around the palace being a manifestation of the prince’s grief, but in general historians have theorized that the prince was either assassinated or ran away. There’ve been a few people throughout history who’ve claimed to be the true heir to Neverwinter’s throne.”

Taako snorts, reaching for the pizza box so he can take a slice. “How likely are people to buy the whole prince thing?” he asks. “I mean, the vines are being weird as fuck. That’s gotta be a point in Kravitz’s favour. Why _are_ the vines being weird as fuck?”

“What do you mean?” Barry asks. “The blooming thing? Is that… not supposed to happen?”

“They were supposed to disappear,” says Kravitz. He ignores the pizza, starting to go through the books Lucretia brought instead. “When the spell keeping me asleep broke, the spell around the palace should have broken too.”

“Huh,” says Barry, grabbing a slice of pineapple and pepperoni too. “I mean, it’s divine magic, so who knows, but if I had to guess, I’d say it means the spell isn’t fully broken.”

“What?” Taako frowns and points his piece of pizza at Kravitz. “I broke the spell though. Kravitz is awake. Look at him, he’s reading a book.”

Barry nods in agreement. “Sure, you broke it, but maybe not _all_ the way. I mean, he’s awake, but the vines are still up, and no offense to your Istus, but how’s a spell supposed to know anything about true love? Five centuries after the fact it probably, you know, decided you were compatible enough and mustered enough magic to kick Kravitz into consciousness, but not enough to dispel everything else.”

“That makes sense,” Kravitz says, glancing up from the books in his hands. He looks… lost. Taako’s used to being blasé about the bad shit that happened in his life, but it’s gotta be weird for them to all talk about his history like it happened five hundred years ago when for Kravitz it’s only been a couple days. “My mother and I never expected the spell to go for this long. I thought it would be a year at most.”

Taako feels offended by the implication that his kiss wasn’t _enough_ for the spell, and then immediately weird about the fact that he feels offended. He barely even _knows_ Kravitz. The spell not being entirely dismissed is a point in favour of the spell and Istus, honestly. It means they weren’t setting Kravitz up to marry the first dude to kiss his not-corpse. Good for them. That’s how it should be.

Still, Taako is _great_ and Kravitz would be lucky to be his one true love, no matter what some stupid spell thinks. He takes a sullen bite of pizza. “So the spell is _judgey_ , is what you’re telling me.”

Lup laughs. “You hurt Taako’s feelings, babe,” she says. “Taako, the spell still _partially_ broke for you.”

“I don’t care about the spell,” Taako says, too quickly for it to be believable. “I just think it’s kind of _judgemental_.”

“You may have lost points for the robbery,” says Kravitz, dryly, the corner of his full lips quirked upwards. The smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, sorrow still lingering, and still he’s stupid handsome—the kind of good looking that makes it hard for Taako to maintain his moral outrage.

Taako looks away from Kravitz, rolling his eyes. “Okay,” he says. “Maybe that’s fair. It’s beside the point though—the point is we have a secret prince and a cursed palace making the national news, so we gotta figure out what the game plan is because I’m not sure how good we were at avoiding security cameras on the way out of the palace grounds and cha’boy is _not_ doing time for this.”

“Is that a _we_ decision, Taako?” Lucretia asks, raising her eyebrows pointedly. “I think it’s really up to Kravitz what happens next, isn’t it? This is his life we’re talking about.”

Taako pauses because… yeah, that’s _fair_ , but also it’s not like they can sit on this for long. “Kinda need to decide fast,” he points out. “You saw the news, right? Let’s be real, if Kravitz doesn’t step up to claim his title, _someone’s_ gonna try it and then that’s it for the prince thing. Nobody’ll believe the second guy who says they’re a long lost royal. Even if they’re telling the truth.”

“Would someone really do that?” Kravitz asks, frowning. Taako kind of admires the guy’s naivete.

“They already have,” says Lucretia. “Like I said, it’s in the books—most claim to be your descendants and not _actually_ you, but yes. They’ve tried. A couple of them ended up starting cults.”

Kravitz glances at the stack of books, looking pained. “I don’t know what I want to do yet,” he says, opening a book and flipping through it. “I know I need to make a decision shortly, but it’s—there are a lot of things to consider. Can you buy me some time?”

“Yeah, of course,” Lup says, before Taako can point out that Kravitz is sitting in a room with a bunch of grad students. It’s not like they have political influence. “You should eat some pizza and read the books. Get an idea of what you’ve missed. It might help you decide how you wanna approach this.”

Kravitz nods, closing the textbook in his hands. “Would you mind if I retired to take a closer look at these? I’m not very hungry. Taako and I ate recently and this is… a lot to take in.”

“Sure, go for it, my dude. You can have my room again,” Taako says, more because it’s _his room_ that Kravitz is asking Lup permission to run away to than anything else.

Kravitz smiles at him as he gets to his feet, gathering Lucretia’s many books into his arms. “Thank you, Taako. That’s very kind,” he says, all charming and formal again. Taako kind of prefers Kravitz being an asshole with him. Taako probably _shouldn’t_ have preferences about the way Kravitz treats him. He didn’t even _really_ break the spell around the palace and on Kravitz. The spell just took the first kiss it got.

Not Kravitz’s fault. Not something Taako should be dwelling on. Still kind of a bummer.

Kravitz retreats to Taako’s bedroom, leaving Taako alone with his friends and sister—a situation he doesn’t fully realize isn’t _great_ for him right now until the door clicks shut behind Kravitz and Barry and Lucretia both lean in close.

“Taako,” says Barry, voice hushed, “what the _hell_ , bud?”

“Is this why you kept asking me about wards and shields?” Lucretia asks. “You were planning to break into a national monument?”

“Listen, I didn’t know I’d wake a prince!” Taako gestures at the closed door to his bedroom. “Turned out good for him, didn’t it? He’s here and awake. It’s fine. There are no take-backs so no lectures. Next time I see a hot corpse, I won’t kiss it.”

“Gross,” says Lucretia. “ _Good_. You shouldn’t. This is basic stuff, Taako.”

“Yeah, even I wouldn’t kiss a corpse,” Barry agrees. “No matter _how_ hot it was.”

Lup snorts, leaning in to press a kiss to Barry’s cheek. “Good to know, babe.”

Taako rolls his eyes. “Thank you, everyone, for the lecture. I can’t un-kiss this corpse so less shaming of Taako and more thinking about what the fuck we do about the prince I guess we just _have_ now.”

“He’s not a cat. We can’t just keep him,” says Lup. “Besides, he’s a _prince_. He’s gonna want to, I don’t know, rule his kingdom or whatever now, isn’t he? And, I mean, he seems cool, but I’m kind of into the whole voting thing.”

“Technically he’s a king, not a prince,” says Lucretia. “He didn’t get to do much before he was… indisposed, but the title stands. I gave him books that explain the transition of power in Neverwinter and talk a little about the people who’ve tried to assert a claim to the crown before. He’ll at least be able to make an informed decision.”

Barry runs a hand through his hair. “A bunch of college students gathering together to try and overthrow the government doesn’t typically end well for the college students.”

“The books _do_ point this out,” Lucretia says, giving Barry an amused look. “I didn’t give him books to _encourage_ an attempted coup. Apparently this is Taako’s true love. I thought we should try and keep him alive.”

“Apparently it’s _not_.” Taako’s tone comes out more bitter than he intended. He keeps talking on the off chance Lup won’t point that out. “Spell’s not broken, remember?”

“Spell’s partially broken.” Lucretia raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to tell us you’re _not_ interested?”

“I’m going to tell you to get out of my apartment.” Taako reaches for another slice of pizza. “Either that or to change the topic. I don’t even know him. Maybe he sucks.”

Lup is grinning at him over Barry’s shoulder because Lup can see right through him and she’s the worst. “I dunno, babe. Seems pretty cool to me so far. And he’s _hot_.”

“Very handsome,” Barry agrees, nodding. “You always wonder if they painted royalty good looking because they didn’t want to insult them, but Kravitz kinda proves that wrong, huh?”

“His mother was supposedly very beautiful as well,” says Lucretia. “She’d have to be, wouldn’t she? With that face.”

“Okay, okay—you’re all hot for Kravitz, I get it,” Taako says, loudly—probably too loudly. The walls in the apartment are thin and Kravitz is just on the other side of the door. “We all get it.”

“Not comfortable with us talking about your beau this way?” Lucretia asks, raising an eyebrow. There’s a smile playing at the edge of her lips. “That’s understandable.”

“Who says _beau_?” Taako glares at all Lucretia and Barry. “Did you just come here to tease me?”

“A little bit to tease you, but mostly to help.” Barry reaches out and squeezes Taako’s shoulder. “None of us want you to end up in jail for robbery or paying fines for trespassing, bud. We’ll figure this out and we’ll only laugh at you a little bit.”

“Aw, babe.” Lup leans against Barry from behind, wrapping her arms around him. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Taako hates his friends and Lup is the worst of them all. He sticks his tongue out at her. “When I’m prince consort, I’m throwing you all in the dungeon. _Then_ we’ll see who’s laughing.”

This time, at least when they laugh they’re laughing _with_ him.

#

The books Lucretia brought are fascinating. Five hundred years is a long time—so long that Kravitz can’t actually wrap his mind around all the time that’s passed, let alone the changes that have occurred. It’s surreal to read about historical events that happened two hundred years after he was born that are _still_ hundreds of years in the past for Taako and Lup and everyone else living in Neverwinter today. Kravitz grew up as a prince thinking he’d meet his true love when he woke up from a sleeping spell and his life is _still_ deeply weird in ways he never expected.

Kravitz has a lot of expectations to reassess.

Lying in Taako’s room with the lamp on, paging through Lucretia’s books, it’s more and more obvious that if Kravitz _does_ come out and tell everyone who he is—and if he wants his house back, he probably _has_ to—it’s going to be a political nightmare. The people fought what remained of Kravitz’s mother’s court _hard_ to replace the monarchy with something more representative. A soon-to-be king turning up out of nowhere will cause problems. The people Lucretia mentioned—the con artists who pretended to be Kravitz’s descendents—each managed to gather a following of true believers, and although the country never fully descended into civil war it came close more than once. 

Kravitz has the advantage of actually being who he says he is. If he wants them, he’ll find supporters.

Flipping through a book that compares Neverwinter’s relatively peaceful move away from the divine right of monarchs to the bloody history and violent revolutions the people of Waterdeep threw to obtain a government that would treat them fairly, Kravitz isn’t sure political power is something he wants. The thought of being responsible for tearing a country he grew up loving apart makes him feel sick to his stomach.

The world has changed a lot. Everyone wears weird, soft new clothing that Kravitz, honestly, doesn’t like much. It doesn’t have _nearly_ enough structure for him to feel comfortable in it. It’s like walking around in his underthings and Kravitz is confident in his body, but Taako’s shirts are _tight_ and the sweatpants cling. 

On the other hand, the food is definitely better. Kravitz likes pizza. Plus, there’s TV now, and stones of farspeech that allow people to talk across vast distances. It’s _fascinating_ and Kravitz wants to know what future music is like and how instruments have changed, but every moment in clothing that doesn’t feel quite right, reading books that talk about his disappearance like it’s ancient history or some kind of mythological legend is a reminder of how incredibly out of place Kravitz is. He doesn’t know anything about this time. He might as well be on a foreign planet.

He can’t rule a kingdom he knows nothing about. He’ll drive it into the ground.

Kravitz sets the book he’s reading down, rubbing a hand over his face. It’s been hours since he heard Taako’s friends teasing him about how attractive they all thought Kravitz was. He’d feel bad about eavesdropping on their conversation, but Kravitz didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The walls are too thin for him not to overhear. It was nice, honestly. Kravitz’s position before the curse hit had isolated him—being a prince meant he had very few true peers. Now… there isn’t anyone. Now he’s well and truly alone.

He doesn’t _know_ Taako, but Taako’s supposed to be his true love. Hearing him talking with his friends—being teased by them and teasing back—gave him some insight into what Taako is like around the people he’s closest to. Taako’s funny. Prickly. Kind of loud and a little dramatic. Handsome. A good cook. Weirdly open to inviting strange men into his home and his bed. 

Taako is someone Kravitz wants to get to know better. He can’t do that from inside his bedroom.

He slides off of Taako’s bed and crosses the room, opening the bedroom door to the sight of Taako on the couch, a bowl of ice cream in his hands, watching a video of a cat on the television. Taako freezes, spoon halfway to his mouth. “Oh, uh, kind of thought you fell asleep again,” he says. “Want some ice cream? I’ll share if you promise not to tell Lup. This is hers but she fucked off to stay at Barry’s place so, mine now.”

Kravitz feels like he missed a lot, being an only child. “Sure,” he says, walking over to the couch to sit beside Taako. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s cool.” Taako hands Kravitz his bowl and gets up. “Let me grab you a spoon. Sorry about, uh, springing Barry and Lucretia on you earlier, but it could have been worse—could have been Magnus and Merle again. You good?”

Kravitz snorts, leaning back on the couch. He’s not sure how he is. “I’ve been reading the books Lucretia loaned me. There’s… a lot to take in.”

“It’s five hundreds years of history, my man. I don’t think you need to catch up all at once.” Taako opens a drawer and pulls out a spoon, walking over and holding it out to Kravitz. “You’re pretty unfussy for a royal, you know. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be making demands and telling me you only use silver spoons or something.”

“I’m a man of the people.” Kravitz takes the spoon, lips quirking into a smile he doesn’t quite feel. “My mother raised me to meet people where they live. Besides, you broke the curse. It wouldn’t be very polite of me to demand you wait on me hand and foot just because a few centuries ago I was royalty.”

“If _I_ was a prince I’d never let anyone forget it.” Taako drops back down beside Kravitz on the couch, digging into the ice cream. “Otherwise what’s the fucking point?”

“Lots of responsibility. Meetings. Taxes. Monitoring national infrastructure. Making sure no one is trying to kill you or your family or friends or your people. Keeping alliances with other nations from falling apart.” Kravitz pauses. “Parties, sometimes.”

“Sounds bad.” Taako tilts his head, watching Kravitz carefully. “What if you… didn’t have to do any of that? Like, what if you hadn’t been a prince? What would you do instead? Music? I’m just guessing, based on the violin you, uh, threatened me with that you can at least play.”

“I can play,” Kravitz agrees, digging his spoon into the ice cream. “I wanted to be a conductor when I was small, before I realized that I would have to be king one day. I wanted to write music.” The ice cream is good—cold and creamy, slightly melted. It’s smoother and richer than any he had before. Five hundred years made a difference with a lot of things. “Maybe that’s what I’ll do now.”

“Wait, what?” Taako looks surprised. “Does that mean you’re giving up on the royalty thing? You’re not gonna… come out of the princely closet?”

“Like I said, I’ve been reading, and it seems like it would be worse for the people if I tried to assert my claim to the throne. My job is to do what’s best for them, and it seems like that’s not me. I do want my things back though—and I’d like to keep living in the palace.” He pauses. “You and your friends think that’s best too, right? I heard you talking about me. It’s good to know you all think I’m handsome.” 

Kravitz watches Taako’s face go red, laughing as he steals more ice cream from the bowl. Teasing Taako distracts from the looming purposelessness of his future. Kravitz spent his whole life training to be a king and now—what? Now he’s a man out of time and he doesn’t know what to do about it. The sheer force of Taako’s personality makes it easier to push the dread in the pit of Kravitz’s stomach aside. Not completely. It’s still there, looming, but Taako helps.

“I don’t have any friends anymore, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taako says, face bright red. “They’re dead to me.”

Kravitz grins, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t hear you disagreeing with their assessment.”

Taako rolls his eyes and shoves Kravitz’s shoulder—just hard enough to make a point. “You’ve _seen_ your reflection. You know what you look like.”

“Very handsome, apparently,” Kravitz says, nodding. Even the tops of Taako’s pointed ears are red and he won’t meet Kravitz’s eyes. Kravitz should probably be nicer, but he feels weirdly comfortable around Taako. Maybe it’s a side effect of Taako breaking the curse. Maybe it’s because Taako is also _very_ attractive. “I’ve had it confirmed by multiple outside sources now.”

“New subject,” Taako says, raising his voice. “How are you planning on getting your house back? Let’s talk about that now.”

Kravitz laughs, letting it go. He doesn’t want to make Taako _actually_ uncomfortable around him. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t know how your laws work, but I’m hoping if I can prove to the government that I am who I say I am, they’ll allow me to claim it.”

“So you _are_ going to tell people who you are?” Taako considers this for a moment. “Probably smart. I don’t know how things worked in the past, but you’re gonna need a lot of paperwork to, like, exist in the world. Did you have credit cards five hundred years ago? You definitely didn’t have credit cards. What am I thinking? You paid for shit with coins that had your face on them.”

“We had the _concept_ of credit,” Kravitz says, then waves a hand around the apartment. “This is all foreign to me. I’m sure I can figure it out with time, but I need to _have_ that time first. If people know who I am, they’re more likely to give that to me.”

This isn’t how Kravitz thought his life would go, but what choice does he have? He doesn’t want to cause a civil war and he wouldn’t know how to rule Neverwinter the way it exists now, even if the government was willing to hand the country over to him.

He puts his spoon down, leaning back and watching the cat on the television stretch out in front of a sunny window. “My mother and I made plans, but she was supposed to be around when the curse hit. This…” He trails off, glancing at Taako. “It’s not what I expected, but I can’t change it. I’m not going to try to drag Neverwinter kicking and screaming into the past. Everything seems to have turned out all right and it did that _without_ me. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not quite sure _what_ I’m going to do now. I’m not sure what the point of me being here, me waking up... is.”

Taako is quiet for a moment, then he sets the ice cream bowl down on the coffee table. “The world sucks sometimes,” he says. “Me and Lup, we grew up making a living on the road, cooking in caravans—our family wasn’t worth much to us. For a while we stayed with our aunt, and that was great, but she, uh, she got sick, and then we got shuffled from person to person and eventually we decided… fuck it, might as well look out for ourselves because nobody else was going to do it.” He’s focused on the coffee table as he talks, not Kravitz, like he can’t quite look him in the eye through all the honesty. “Anyway, we had kind of a shitty childhood—lots of promises that fell through, lots of disappointment. Shit went wrong… a lot. Like, a _lot_ -a lot. Sometimes the world is shitty to you and it’s not your fault, but whatever, stuff happened and now that’s on you to deal with.”

Taako looks up at Kravitz. The expression on his face is open—serious. His eyes are intense green as he stares Kravitz down and it’s enough to make Kravitz’s breath hitch in his throat. Taako, sitting in the dimly lit apartment, dressed in oversized, shapeless modern clothes with his long hair pulled back in a messy bun, is beautiful. Ethereal. 

“The world’s not fair, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept the shit it hands you meekly. You gotta take advantage of the opportunities you’ve got. Me and Lup had our brains, so we studied our asses off and got scholarship money for college. Now Lup’s in grad school and I’ve got a degree and a half and I’m gonna be on TV at some point, that’s a gauran-fuckin’-tee. 

“You’re a prince, my dude. A _magic_ one. You’ve got a palace that responds to your and has your face all over the walls to prove it. You’ve got a lot more working in your favour than we ever did. Your existence isn’t dependent on destiny, my dude. I know you like Istus, but fuck fate—the only person in charge of you is you. You can do anything you want now. Sure, you’re not gonna rule a kingdom, but you’re gonna be fine—you just have to decide what you want, adjust your goals, and figure out how to get them.”

Kravitz lets Taako’s words linger in the air between them. It’s blunt, but it’s fair—Taako is probably right that it won’t be hard for Kravitz to land on his feet. And maybe there’s a kind of freedom in this now. He can do anything he wants. He can be a musician, if people still listen to the same kind of music. And even if they don’t, he can learn new instruments and musical styles. There are opportunities now that he didn’t have before.

He always wanted to be a musician.

“That was rude, wasn’t it?” Taako asks, breaking eye contact. “Listen—if you do decide to go the king route don’t have me executed, okay? That would be uncool.”

Kravitz laughs, shaking his head. “I don’t mind you being rude,” he says. “You’re right. I can’t change it—I should think about what I’m going to do, not what I wish hadn’t happened.” He slumps back against the couch. “I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Taako tilts his head to the side, watching Kravitz for a moment, then gets to his feet. “Okay,” he says. “You know what? It’s been five hundred years. It’s not like anyone’s gonna recognize you. You wanna catch up on the world, let’s start now.” He holds a hand out to Kravitz, eyebrows raised. “Let’s go out.”

#

Taako doesn’t actually have a plan for what _out_ means, but as soon as he made the offer Kravitz’s whole face lit up with interest and _maybe_ it was kind of mean to wake him up, tell him he was in the future, and then keep him locked in Lup and Taako’s shitty apartment. Kravitz seems set on not, you know, trying to cause a civil war to reassert his divine right to power because Kravitz isn’t an asshole, but maybe showing him the world is a better way to guaranteeing that then handing him a stack of history books.

Taako’s always been a hands-on learner. Maybe Kravitz is too. Kravitz is definitely despondent. Taako can help with that.

He’s not sure where to go, once he’s got Kravitz dressed in a pair of resized sneakers and a too-big hoodie that Taako stole from Lup, who stole it from Barry. Just walking down the street seems to be enough for now though. Kravitz keeps looking up at the streetlamps and the boxy, unquestionably modern apartment complexes scattered around Taako’s neighbourhood, and there’s something… charming about the naked delight on Kravitz’s face over run of the mill architecture.

“Guess you didn’t have much time to look around one the way from the palace, huh?” Taako asks as he leads Kravitz out of the maze of Neverwinter’s residential side streets and towards civilization. He and Lup live near the university—there are plenty of businesses that won’t bat an eye at the sight of them dressed in sweatpants and hoodies.

“I had a lot on my mind,” Kravitz agrees, pulling his eyes off of a condo made of concrete and glass and glancing at Taako. “Things really _have_ changed.”

“Uh, yeah, my dude. It’s been five hundred years.” Taako’s aware it’s not the most sensitive reply, but still—five hundred years.

Kravitz laughs, tucking his hands into the pockets of his hoodie like he’s always worn them. Taako bets modern clothes are a relief. The suit Kravitz woke up in was hot, but looked starchy and buttoned up as all hell. “That’s fair.”

Taako reaches out to grab Kravitz’s arm as they reach the more populated commercial part of town—half to keep Kravitz from wandering into traffic or something and half because fuck it, hot boy. “Anything you’re curious about?” he asks. “I’ve shown you pizza, the local news, and cat videos. Not sure what the natural progression is from there.”

Kravitz looks down at him like he’s surprised Taako took his arm, but he doesn’t try to shrug off Taako’s hand so he has to be at least a little into it. “Music,” he says. “I want to know what it sounds like now.”

Taako knows next to nothing about music history, but things are _definitely_ different now than they were five hundred years ago. He’s not sure Kravitz’s kind of music even had lyrics—except for opera or whatever.

Showing him music also would have been easier at the apartment. “Okay,” he says, after a beat. “Music. Cool. Couldn’t have woken up ten years ago when record stores were still a thing, huh? Gotta choose a hard one. I’m not sure—” Taako cuts himself off, staring at the chalkboard sign in front of the bar across the street from them. It calls to him like a beacon— _Open mic night!_ it says, _All welcome!!_

“Holy shit,” he says, voice full of pure glee because _fuck yeah_. “I’m gonna give you the _worst_ introduction to modern music in history.”

Kravitz stares at him, obviously mystified. “Um,” he says. “Okay?”

“ _Trust_ me, my dude, this is going to be _the worst_ and you’re going to love it.” Taako drags Kravitz along with him as he makes a bee-line for the bar’s open door. “I’ll even buy you a drink.”

The bar is called The Davy Lamp and it’s one of the most thoroughly college bars Taako has ever been in. The furniture is mismatched and dinged up and the lighting is low in a way that’s definitely supposed to stop people from noticing. There’s a low stage in the corner, lit up with a spell, and already the night is off to a good start because there’s an orc trying to do stand-up and the faces of the people unlucky enough to be sitting at the tables near the stage reflect a polite horror that clearly says _why did we do this to ourselves?_

Kravitz looks mystified as he scopes out the bar. Taako’s pretty sure they had dive bars in the olden days too, but probably not ones Kravitz frequented. “Welcome to college.” Taako pats Kravitz’s shoulder. “Bad wine or bad beer?”

“Wine,” says Kravitz, after a beat. “Why is it bad?”

“Comes from a box.” Kravitz looks immediately concerned, which just makes Taako even more certain coming here was the right move. “Find us a place not near the stage and I’ll be right over.”

Taako doesn’t know how Lup’s gonna feel about Taako letting the prince out of the apartment, but so far Taako’s having a lot of fun. Kravitz has been astonishingly reasonable about everything, but this might put his politeness to the test.

Taako’s not a good person. Seeing Kravitz look around like he doesn’t know what to do about the state of the bar _delights_ him.

He orders them both a glass of fantasy Franzia and makes his way across the bar to the two-top Kravitz snagged. It’s in the corner, far enough from the stage that they’ll be able to talk without distracting the performer—currently a halfling slam poet—or annoying fellow audience members. Kravitz has good instincts.

“I got red,” Taako says, setting the glasses down and sliding onto the stool beside Kravitz’s. “Trust me, it’s better than the white.”

Kravitz gives the wine a wary look. “Do they make a _lot_ of wine in boxes now?”

“I mean, technically yeah, but listen—they still make good wine. It still exists. You _for sure_ can’t get it here and I for sure can’t afford it. What happened to meeting people where they lived?”

“That was before I knew about boxed wine.”

Taako laughs, ducking his head as he reaches for his glass. “Try it before you cut off my head for it, your highness. The nice thing about the boxed stuff is that it’s cheap.”

Kravitz picks up his glass, sniffing it before he takes a tentative sip. He takes a second, longer drink of wine and then sets it down. “I’ve had worse.”

“Gross,” says Taako. “Your life really _is_ a tragedy, huh?” Scattered applause indicates the end of the poetry and Taako turns his attention to the stage as a red tiefling with an acoustic guitar steps up to the mic. “It’s about to get worse. I bet you another candlestick that somebody tonight plays Fantasy Wonderwall.”

“I have no idea what that means,” says Kravitz, but he sounds amused so Taako calling his life tragic and then reminding him Taako robbed his house went over surprisingly well.

Taako is going to have to teach Kravitz about memes. It’s like hanging out with a hot version of Merle. “We’ll work on that next,” he promises.

“Hey everyone,” the tiefling says, in a monotone voice, flipping artfully disheveled maroon hair out of their face. “I’m gonna play some original songs tonight. Follow me on Soundcloud—InfernalLegacy but the As are the number 4.”

Taako cannot think of a better way to re-introduce Kravitz to music.

#

Kravitz drinks the first glass of wine too fast. He feels incredibly out of place in borrowed clothes, perched on a stool in the corner of a _thoroughly_ modern bar and it takes him one and a half musical acts before he realizes that the reason he doesn’t like their songs isn’t that he’s old and out of touch—it’s that they’re _bad._

“I cannot believe,” he says, when Taako returns with a carafe of boxed wine, “that _this_ is how I learn about future music.”

Taako lets out a sharp bark of laughter, his eyes sparkling with delight as he refills both their glasses. “Look on the bright side, anything you listen to after this is gonna sound like a banger.”

“I’m going to assume that means good,” says Kravitz, picking up his glass and drinking deep. The boxed wine really isn’t that bad. A little vinegar-y, but Kravitz is pleasantly buzzed and if he’s honest, he’s enjoying himself. The music is bad, but Taako’s joy at subjecting Kravitz to this is contagious.

He has a nice smile.

“It does,” Taako confirms. He makes a face when someone gets up on stage and starts juggling, turning his full attention to Kravitz. “What would it take to get you to sign up for one of these? I wanna see you play a waltz on your violin or whatever.”

Kravitz laughs, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t play a waltz. I think I’d do something—I don’t know. Folksy.”

Taako snorts, choking on his wine. “ _Folksy_ ,” he repeats. “Krav, what kind of rich person bullshit—”

“Like a _folk_ song,” Kravitz says, knocking his foot against Taako’s under the table. “Something appropriate for the setting. Something lively.”

Taako keeps laughing at him, but nods. “Okay, fair,” he agrees. “Reasonable, but still the worst way you could’ve phrased that, my dude. Fuckin’ _folksy_. We’ll have to get you back into the palace soon so you can get your violin. Come back for the next one of these and take the bar by storm.”

Kravitz casts his gaze around the bar. Nominally it’s a night for people to come and watch performers, but he and Taako seem to be one of the only tables not here in support of a specific act. He has a feeling if he hadn’t asked about music Taako would have chosen a different place to show him a slice of the future.

Kravitz is happy they ended up here. He’s out of place and the entertainment and wine are both mediocre, but this is _life_. This is how people live. This is a bar full of students supporting their friends’ art and tapping away at their stones of farspeech. This isn’t the future—it’s the present. It is completely ordinary for everyone else in the bar—except, maybe, for some of the performers who have to stand up in front of a mostly disinterested crowd and do their best—and being here, watching them solidifies Kravitz’s resolve not to try to uproot everything about their lives.

“I don’t think I’m quite the act they’re looking for,” he says, focusing on Taako again. He’s turned towards Kravitz, cheeks flushed from the wine. “I definitely can’t juggle.”

“Thank fuck for that,” says Taako, with feeling. “What kind of act is _juggling?_ ”

Kravitz glances at the stage as the juggler takes his bow and a thin half-elf in a plaid shirt steps up to take his place. “Better or worse than the juggler?”

“Better. Gotta be,” says Taako, glancing at the stage. The half-elf roots around in his pocket, pulling out a harmonica, and Taako scowls. “Fuck.”

Kravitz grins and flips over his coaster, humming under his breath to make a mark on the back of it. Taako makes him forget all his manners. He _relaxes_ around Taako and that’s not something he’s used to—not with someone he just met. “One point to me,” he says. “First to five wins.”

Taako’s eyes flick down to the mark on the coaster, then back up to Kravitz’s face. “I’m not gonna go easy on you just because you’re from the past and don’t know anything about modern pop culture.”

Kravitz raises an eyebrow. “I think I’ve got the gist of it,” he says, nodding to the stage, where the half-elf is playing a heartfelt, discordant song on his harmonica.

Taako smirks, leaning into Kravitz’s space. “If I win I get silverware.”

Kravitz has always had a weakness for games of chance. “Deal,” he says. “If I win, I get more pizza.”

Taako straightens up, turning to the stage with renewed interest. “ _Hell_ yeah, handsome. You’re _on_.”

#

“It’s gonna be hippie nonsense,” Taako says, gesturing to the stage, where long-haired gnome and a drow in a long dress, holding a guitar are setting up for their set. “Songs about the sun.”

Kravitz tilts his head, assessing. The drow strums a chord and then adjusts the tuning on a string by ear. “Maybe,” he agrees. “But it’s going to be good.”

The second point of the game goes to Kravitz too.

#

“Is this cat going to make _balloon animals_?” Taako asks, leaning forward with both elbows on the table to watch a dwarf in a leather jacket, holding a handful of colourful… somethings take the stage. “This is gonna be _lit_. I want a hat.”

Kravitz has no idea what balloons are, but he’s up two-nothing so he concedes the point to Taako.

align="center"#

Kravitz calls the trumpeter who follows the balloon animals being bad, but Taako, in his inflatable hat, wins the next round by calling that the dancer will be good. Kravitz is going to have to mark _dancing_ down as a thing he knows nothing about anymore too. Next is another tight five of comedy and everyone in the audience is a loser, but Taako takes the point, which leaves them all tied up.

“I like this game,” Taako says, watching a three-person band take the stage. “They’re gonna suck.”

“The drummer will be too loud,” Kravitz says, watching the bassist look her instrument over. “But I think the other two will be good. The singer’s been drinking out of a mug. She’s looking after her voice.”

“Or drinking hot toddies.” Taako glances at him. “Do you think we’ll be able to _tell_ if they’re good, under the drums.”

The bar’s emptier now—the night is drawing to a close. Kravitz feels like betting big. “We’ll be able to hear them and they’ll be good.”

Taako raises his eyebrows. “Two points?”

“Two points,” Kravitz agrees, anticipation pooling in his stomach.

Taako’s eyes glint with amusement and he nods, once. “Deal.”

The band starts playing—the drummer counting them in and then restraining themselves, still a little too loud in the tight venue, but soft enough that the bass and guitar can clearly be heard over the steady rhythm she sets.

They’re _good_.

“God _dammit_ ,” Taako says, attempting to toss his balloon hat to the floor—it clings to his sleeve, held in place by static electricity. Kravitz bursts into laughter, watching Taako flap his arm to try and get the hat off, holding onto the table so he doesn’t tip off his stool. 

They’re drawing annoyed glances from the crowd around them, but Kravitz can’t remember the last time he laughed this hard.

#

“You know, I’ve never been thrown out of a bar before,” Kravitz says, as he and Taako walk back towards Taako and Lup’s apartment.

Taako glances at him, grinning and bumping their shoulders together companionably. “No, _really_? Can’t imagine why.” 

It’d been weirdly easy to forget the prince thing all night. Taako drank just enough to feel warm and relaxed and Kravitz is good company—he’s funny and mean when he’s not trying to be on his best behaviour, and apparently he likes gambling which is all sorts of interesting. _Probably_ not a quality you want in a king, but very fun at a solidly mediocre, verging on bad open mic night.

Kravitz laughs, knocking his arm against Taako’s again. “I was _trying_ to say I had a nice time,” he says, and then he reaches out and links their fingers together, casual as anything, not even paying attention to Taako as he does it. He just holds Taako’s hand like he’s done it a million times before, tilting his head back and staring up at the night sky. “There aren’t as many stars anymore.”

Taako looks up too. The moon is still nice and full in the sky, like it was when he, Magnus, and Merle broke in the palace. “It’s the light pollution,” he says. “They’re still there. The light from cities makes it harder to see them, but if you go out into the country they’re there.”

“Cities so bright they outshine the stars,” Kravitz says. “Amazing.”

Taako’s never heard that take on light pollution before, but Kravitz looks like he’s enjoying the future now—like he’s a little in awe of it. He’s got stubble starting to show on his jawline already and he’s dressed in sweatpants that are too tight and a hoodie that’s too big, but he’s still stupidly handsome, smiling up at the night sky, and Taako is holding his _hand_.

Taako pulls his eyes off of Kravitz’s face. One of them needs to pay attention to where they’re going. He’s trying to think of something else to say—something that _doesn’t_ involve the stars and how Taako and Lup made up constellations when they were kids, did Kravitz want to hear about them?—when he realizes Kravitz is humming under his breath. Not in a deliberate way—absentminded, like he’s just… happy.

His humming is low and rich and makes Taako want to bug him until he sings something like Kravitz is a fucking Fantasy Disney prince.

Taako spends the rest of the walk in silence, listening to the sound of Kravitz hum a song he recognizes now as the one the band was playing when they got kicked out of the bar. Taako can’t remember the last time he held hands with a dude and walked around after a date. Not that this is a _date_. He was just showing Kravitz what the world was like now.

“Taako?” 

Taako glances at Kravitz as they reach his and Lup’s building. “What’s up?”

“Thank you.” Kravitz squeezes his hand, smiling all warm and open.

Taako wants to kiss him to see what it would be like with Kravitz awake.

He holds himself back, settling for squeezing Kravitz’s hand back and pulling away on the pretense of searching for his keys. “Yeah, I mean, don’t worry about it,” he says. “Figured you should get to see the world before you do… whatever you decide to do.” Taako unlocks the door and steps aside for Kravitz. “Some fun before you’re famous.”

“I hope we can do it again soon.” Kravitz pauses. “Maybe _without_ getting kicked out next time.”

Taako laughs and elbows Kravitz on his way past him, up the stairs. “Nah,” he says. “Trust me on this one, Krav. Getting kicked out is half the fun. Just wait until we go out with Magnus and Merle.”

Kravitz ducks his head, chuckling and looking much more like a proper gentleman again. Taako likes that Kravitz will relax around him—he likes that he gets to see the version of Kravitz that’s happy to make bets about open mic night and drink shitty wine. Taako doesn’t believe in fate—not the kind of fate Kravitz’s fairy tale curse is tied to anyway—but Kravitz is handsome and funny and kind of an asshole while also being a nerd which is _his type_ and Taako _definitely_ should have had more wine at the bar because Taako’s got a thing for Prince Kravitz the Vanished.

He is deeply, _profoundly_ fucked.

#

Taako is in hell. His life is endless suffering. Kravitz is infuriatingly attractive and Taako doesn’t know what to _do_ about it.

Lup’s at Barry’s, which is another issue, but one that Taako solves by sneaking out of the apartment while Kravitz is still holed up in his room, presumably asleep, and taking the bus to Barry’s apartment. It’s fine. Probably. Kravitz doesn’t know anyone else. Where would he go?

Taako lets himself into Barry’s place, heading straight to Barry’s bedroom because apparently he’s up before Barry and Lup too—nobody in the kitchen making food. It’s enough to make Taako wish he’d called a Fantasy Lyft and sweet talked the driver into going through a drive-thru somewhere. One more burden for Taako to bear.

“Hey nerds, I’m comin’ in! You better be dressed!” he calls out, pushing open the bedroom door with a bang. “I’m having a _crisis_.”

“Taako, _why?_ ” Lup asks, rolling over in bed and glaring at him. The effect is lessened somewhat by her messy hair and bleary eyes. “Go _away_.”

Barry rubs a hand over his face, then reaches it out to feel for his glasses on the bedside table. “Taako?” He sounds even less alert than Lup. “What’d you do? Is it Kravitz?”

Taako ignores Lup’s glare, striding over to the bed and flopping down across their feet. “I didn’t _do_ anything,” he says, not really offended, but feeling like he should voice some kind of protest.

Lup kicks him in the ribs, but gently. “Is Kravitz in Barry’s living room right now, or did you leave him home alone? Can he be without supervision?”

“He’s a big boy, Lup. Calm down.” Taako rolls onto his side so he can look at her and Barry. “If he wanders off then boom—problem solved.” It’s not true, but it’s kind of comforting to pretend. “He says he doesn’t want to be king because it would be bad for everyone living in Neverwinter if he tried to claim the throne. He wants his stuff, but not his title or power, and he’s a musician? He plays the violin, actually. You’d probably get along. We got kicked out of The Davy Lamp last night when we went to watch open mic night.”

“You took him to an open mic night?” Lup looks incredulous. “Taako, _why?_ Why would you do that to him?”

“He started a game where we bet on whether people would be good or not. I owe him pizza.” Taako covers his face with his hands and makes a frustrated noise. “He’s _funny_. Princes shouldn’t _be_ funny.”

Lup laughs at him, sitting up in bed and prodding him with her foot. “Did you come all the way to Barry’s apartment to whine about having a _crush_?” she asks. “I can’t believe I need to say these words, but Taako… it’s okay to be attracted to the hot prince you woke with a kiss.”

“It’s not a _crush_.” Taako drops his hands so he can glare at Lup. He came here for sympathy, not to be laughed at, although in retrospect he should have known better. Magnus would have been the better choice. Magnus hasn’t seen Kravitz hanging around in Taako’s clothes, eating pizza yet. “He’s a _nerd_.”

“Nerds are hot.” Lup pats Barry’s chest. “I have one of my own and he’s great.”

“Thanks, hon,” Barry says, reaching up to give the hand on his chest a squeeze. “I know you only came to see Lup, bud, but… what’s the problem here? You like Kravitz. So? He seems to like you just fine too. Maybe once the whole prince thing is figured out you two can go on a date.”

Taako thinks the problem is obvious. “I didn’t break the curse though—not really. The palace is still covered with vines. Unless Kravitz has forgotten something about the curse, it doesn’t seem to think we’re that compatible.”

Lup rolls her eyes. “So fuck the curse. It didn’t do Kravitz any good before. I don’t know why you’d trust it with your future happiness now. Maybe Kravitz is right and the curse didn’t like your motivations for breaking in. Maybe it thinks you and Kravitz need to get to know each other better. Maybe it’s just five hundred years old and malfunctioning. Babe, there are a _million_ reasons why this weird old spell could be fucked and none of them are a good reason for you to not ask out Kravitz. You’re smarter than this.”

“I only met him once, but he seems cool,” Barry says, propping himself up on his elbows. “Curses aren’t something I’d take relationship advice from.”

Taako knows they’re doing their best. Their best? Sucks. Taako came here to get talked out of his attraction to Kravitz that, okay, _maybe_ qualifies as a crush, not to have Lup and Barry tell him it sounds reasonable to them.

“Neither of you are helping,” he says, sliding off the bed. “I’m gonna go home and make sure Kravitz didn’t lock himself out of the apartment or electrocute himself with the toaster or something.”

“Checking up on him? Cute,” says Lup. She leans down and gives Barry a kiss, then slips out from under the covers. She’s dressed in one of Barry’s t-shirts and a pair of pajama shorts, thank god. “I’ll come with you. We can get coffee on the way. Barry has dissertation writing to do today anyway.”

Barry lets out a dramatic groan. “I don’t _have_ to. I could do research into the palace and sleeping stasis spells. That sounds more fun.”

“Nope, gotta do work, babe. You know you like it once you start.” Lup gives him another quick peck. “Come over for dinner and ask Kravitz a bunch of prying questions about his curse. It can be your reward.”

Barry smiles up at Lup, looking disgustingly smitten with her. “That _does_ sound like fun.” 

Taako rolls his eyes. “I’m leaving now,” he says, loudly. “Lup, if you’re coming you should stop being gross.”

“You’re just jealous.” Lup straightens up and waves a hand in his direction. “I’m gonna change. Unless you wanna see my underwear, I’d go raid Barry’s cereal collection.”

“ _Gross_ ,” says Taako, with feeling. “Fine, but you have until I finish a bowl of Fantasy Cocoa Puffs before I’m out of here.”

Lup sticks her tongue out at Taako. “I’m not worried. If you leave without me, you have to go see Kravitz alone.”

Taako would like to tell Lup that she’s wrong—that he’ll leave her behind without thinking about it and hang out with Kravitz in their shared apartment for the rest of the day, but he can’t because it’s not true and it’s the kind of not true that Lup will absolutely call him out on. Taako _likes_ Kravitz and it’s the worst, most cliche thing he can think of, but maybe if he’s lucky this will all resolve itself as soon as Kravitz tells the world who he is, gets his palace back, and is gone from Taako’s apartment and his life.

For some reason, the thought doesn’t bring Taako as much comfort as it should.

#

Kravitz wakes up to an empty apartment, which he knows only because Taako left a note on the kitchen counter which reads: _Went to bug Lup, brb._ Kravitz has enough context clues to get through the slang, but he’s pretty sure Taako made “stepped out, will return” harder than it needed to be on purpose.

Kravitz shouldn’t find it charming, but he does. He finds a lot of things about Taako charming—his loud laugh, his eagerness to show Kravitz future things, his smile.

Kravitz has the half a song they heard the last band play the night before on a loop in his head as he walks around the apartment, trying to figure out what to do to occupy himself. He wants to go out and see more of the world. He wants to be around when Taako gets back. He wants to write down the melody in his head so he doesn’t forget it—not to do anything with, just to have it, for reference. He wonders if he’ll be able to convince Taako to go see a modern orchestra with him.

Kravitz tries to make the television work, but quickly abandons the attempt because being caught not knowing how to use technology is worse than just not knowing how to use it. He picks up Lucretia’s books again instead—there’s still a lot to catch up on. 

Despite how nice the night out with Taako was, there’s a small part of him still hoping for a sign that disappearing wasn’t the best thing he could have done for his country—something that points to a bright future that could have been. 

He doesn’t find it.

There are wars and strife, a couple of famines. People suffered, but they also pushed their government to improve things. Things moved _slower_ , but there was more time for deliberation. The amount of change that has occurred since Kravitz fell asleep is staggering—breathtaking. He wants to know everything. He wants to _experience_ everything. There’s nothing he can find in the books about the stars disappearing because the cities were too bright. There’s nothing about open mic nights or balloon animals or modern instruments. There’s only so much he can learn from books.

Kravitz would be a bad king if he took things over now. He would ruin lives. Ruin the country. He wishes he could talk to his mother about this, but even if she hadn’t died before he was hit by the curse she’d be dead now. He wishes he could talk to _Istus_ , but his mother was the devout one, not him. Besides, she’s the one who arranged for this to happen. Istus might be one of the more understanding gods, but she’s still a god.

This is the situation Kravitz is in. He has to deal with. Make the best of it, like Taako said.

By the time Taako and Lup return, holding a cardboard tray with three paper cups, Kravitz is absolutely certain the decision he’s made is the right one.

“Sorry to leave you hanging, but it was a twin-mergency,” Taakos says, kicking off his shoes as he walks into the room. “I brought you a latte though so you can’t be mad. I _know_ you didn’t have this in the olden times. You’re gonna love it.” He selects a cup and holds it out to Kravitz. “You eat?”

“It seemed rude to eat your food,” Kravitz says, accepting the cup. “Also I never cooked for myself. Thank you.”

“We’ll teach you about cereal. Taako broke into your house and kissed you while you were unconscious. You’re for sure allowed to steal a bowl of Cheerios,” Lup says, grinning at Kravitz. “I heard you went out last night. What did you think?”

“I liked some of the music,” says Kravitz, smiling at her. “Did Taako tell you about his hat?”

“Hat?” Lup repeats, looking at Taako. “Thought you went to The Davy Lamp?”

Taako sticks his tongue out at Kravitz, like they’re kids. Kravitz hides his smile behind his cup, taking a tentative sip of latte—it’s milky and rich, cut through with the bitter taste of coffee. Kravitz could get used to drinking these. “We did,” Taako says. “Someone was doing balloon animals so I got a hat and then the hat malfunctioned and we got kicked out.”

“You were trying to make it stick to my clothes and laughed so hard you distracted the band,” Kravitz corrects, ruthlessly. “You popped a balloon.”

“All right, narc,” Taako says, hitting Kravitz’s arm with no real heat.

“I don’t know what that means,” Kravitz says, tone bland as he takes another sip of latte.

Taako snorts. “You better get good at picking up on context clues real fast, your highness. There’s gonna be a lot of that.”

“You two are cute,” says Lup, before Kravitz can respond. She has her head tilted to the side as she watches them. “This is adorable.”

Taako scowls at Lup. “This is a _private_ conversation.”

Lup just smirks. “This is my living room too.”

Kravitz doesn’t really want to sit through a round of sibling bickering. He also doesn’t want to sit on his decision. 

“I want to tell people who I am,” he says, loud enough to interrupt Taako protesting Lup’s claim to the living room. “And then I want to make it very clear I have no intention of taking the throne. Everything I’ve read tells me it would be a monumentally bad idea to do so—even taking into account the anti-monarchy slant in the books Lucretia gave me, I don’t know enough about the future to govern a sandwich here, let alone a nation. I’ll abdicate officially, once they confirm my identity.”

Taako nods slowly, stealing a glance at Lup. “Cool,” he says. “So, uh, any… other decisions in there? Like how to do this and make them believe you, maybe?”

“I have some thoughts.” Kravitz doesn’t have _many_ thoughts, but there’s this—seeing him in the palace helped Taako, Magnus, and Merle believe his story. Maybe that’s what the media needs too. “I’ll need your help though. Is everyone still watching the palace?”

Lup picks up a small black box from the kitchen counter and points it at the TV. It flickers on and there, on the morning news, is the same drow from before, smiling at the camera with the palace behind him, covered in half-open rose buds. “Yep,” Lup says, popping the P. “They’re still there.”

“Good,” says Kravitz. “Then I need my clothes and help getting back into the palace. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to be dramatic about it. It’ll be _very_ difficult for them to deny who I am if I come out of the palace to greet them.”

Taako is silent for a moment—just long enough for Kravitz to worry that he won’t think it’s funny, that he won’t agree to _help_ —but then he bursts out laughing. “I get it. You wanna make an _entrance_. You’re gonna put on a _show_ for them.”

“Exactly,” Kravitz agrees, pleased. “So? Will you help?”

“Are you kidding me?” Taako asks, smiling up at Kravitz, his green eyes shining with amusement. Kravitz wants to reach out and touch him, but holds himself back. “I wouldn’t miss this for the _world_.”

Lup clears her throat, which pulls Kravitz back from dwelling on how nice Taako’s eyes are for much longer. “Quick question—is this a one-on-one event or can I come too? And follow up, can I bring Barry? Because this is going to cause _chaos_ and I wanna be front row center for the whole thing.”

“Oh shit,” says Taako. “I gotta invite Merle or we’re not getting past the plants and into the palace. He needs to sweet talk them for us.”

“ _Gross_ ,” says Lup. “I’m gonna text Lucretia. I bet she’d love to see inside the palace.”

Taako makes a face and pulls his stone of farspeech out of his pocket. “Guess I should get Magnus too—he can drive us there.”

Kravitz opens his mouth to protest that _he_ should probably get a say in who comes, then closes it. He doesn’t actually care and Taako and Lup are already busy busy tapping at their stones. “Okay,” he says, after a beat, amused by the flurry of messages the two of them are sending. If this is any indication, his appearance is going to make an impact. “I’m going to change into something more comfortable now. Let me know when we’re ready to go.”

Taako waves him off without looking up from his stone. “Yeah, we got this, my dude—you worry about your outfit, we’ll take care of the organizing. Cha’boy is gonna be on _TV_ and then Fantasy Masterchef will be _begging_ me to be on their show.”

#

It’s harder to get closer to the palace this time. There’s media parked outside and renewed interest from tour groups—the royal palace isn’t just the field trip every kid in Neverwinter has to do at _least_ once anymore. Now, the whole world is watching and they’re going to take advantage of that. If Kravitz’s emergence from the palace is broadcast live, it’s going to take some real mental gymnastics to deny who he is.

The changes to the vines were obvious on TV, but up close they’re something else—bits of red blossoms poke out of green buds that dot the surface of the vines. The vines themselves are still wrapped tight around the palace and the shield is still firmly in place, but things are unquestionable _alive_ inside of it and there’s something electrifying about seeing vines that haven’t moved in centuries suddenly bloom. Taako finds himself excited even though he’s the one who kicked this all off.

“Okay, I was skeptical about the whole claiming to be a prince by walking out of the palace on live TV plan before, but never mind,” Lup says, voice hushed as they crouch in the bushes beside the shield, waiting for a security guard to pass. Their group is too large to _really_ sneak, but if worse comes to worse Taako figures they can just knock a few people unconscious. “I would totally buy it.”

“Taako, what did you _do?_ ” Magnus asks, from Lup’s other side. “ _Look_ at it!”

“Have you not been watching the news, Mags?” Taako asks, leaning forward so he can get a look at Magnus’s face. “It’s been a couple days of this.”

“Yeah, but _look_!” Magnus gestures to the palace. “That’s _huge_.”

The scale is different when it’s not on a TV screen, that’s true. Taako’s trying not to think about it too hard. “Wasn’t me. It was the curse. Merle, you ready to go?”

“Sure,” says Merle. “I’m always ready to go when it comes to a lively specimen like this. You know, for someone who’s critical of my methods, you’re asking for my help an awful lot these days.”

“I’m critical of you _kinks_ ,” Taako says, too loud, because that kind of backtalk from Merle _deserves_ loud.

The security guard, who had almost passed their hiding spot, turns. “Is someone in that bush?” he asks. “Hey, uh, if you’re—if you’re in that bush you better come out. Tourists aren’t supposed to be back here. You can take selfies at the front of the palace just fine.”

Taako exchanges a look with Lup, then with Magnus over Lup’s head. Kravitz is back with Barry and Lucretia, too many people down for Taako to consult. He could try and charm the guard, but breaking _into_ the palace might cast some doubt on their announcement of Kravitz as the legitimate heir to the throne and Taako would _really_ like to make it on TV.

“I got it,” Magnus says, after a beat. “See you on the other side. Tell Kravitz that he owes me.” He stands up, waving at the guard as he wades through the bushes. “You caught me! Sorry about that. I just wanted a really good picture with the palace. Something unique, you know? I bet you have lots of insight into good selfie spots.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” says the guard, squinting up at Magnus suspiciously. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir.”

“Sure,” says Magnus, throwing a companionable arm around the guard’s shoulders. “Show me the way out. I’m kind of lost too. Where is the front of the palace again?”

“It’s, uh, it’s the opposite side from the back.” The guard doesn’t seem to know what to do about Magnus being friendly with him. He also seems to be _maybe_ twenty years old and human. He lets himself be steered away from the bushes without much trouble.

“Okay,” Lup says, once Magnus and the guard are out of sight. “Let’s more _quickly_ so we don’t lose anyone else.”

“Barry’s next, if someone has to go,” Taako says, just so they’re all on the same page. “We need me to get through the shield and Merle to get through the plants and Kravitz to, you know, be the long lost prince.” He pauses. “I just feel like Barry is a lower priority than Lup and Lucretia.”

“That’s fair,” says Barry, reaching up to adjust his glasses. “Are we doing this?”

Taako holds out his arm. “We’re doing this. Grab onto me or on to someone holding on to me and hang on. I don’t know how smooth it’s gonna be with this many people, but hey—it’s only a seventh level spell, right?”

Lup grabs his arm and Merle puts a hand on his hip. Barry takes Lup’s hand in his. “I might be able to Blink over,” Barry says, as Lucretia and Kravitz grab onto him. “If you wanted to—”

Taako doesn’t bother waiting for Barry to finish casting aspersions on Taako’s ability to drag them all through the shield via the Ethereal Plane—he casts Planar Shift spell. It takes longer than it should to work. His magic moves like it’s stuck in mud, but Taako _pulls_ , yanking them out of the Material Plane, and then holds onto the spell like he’s holding his breath. He’s abruptly glad Magnus isn’t with the group because he’s not sure he could have brought six people with him—five is _a lot_ —and there’s no fuckin’ way Taako’s admitting he could have used Barry’s help with this one.

Hopefully their grand exit from the palace doesn’t require as much juice because Taako’s got spell slots for days, but he’d rather not use them on this.

Taako steps forward, towards the glowing construct of the shield, and the six of them make their slow, careful way up to the barrier and then through it like it’s not even there.

As soon as he’s sure everyone is through, Taako drops the spell like a hot potato, panting for breath. “Okay, when we leave? That’s someone else’s problem. Taako is _done_ ,” he says, unzipping his hoodie and fanning himself with a hand because he feels maybe a little overheated. “Merle, you’re up.”

“Are you all right?” Kravitz asks, crossing the space between them, now that they don’t all have to fit in one row of bushes, and touching Taako’s elbow. He’s all dressed up again. His heavily embroidered black and gold jacket and vest and fancy, frilled shirt should look ridiculous. On anyone else, it would look like a costume. On Kravitz, it looks natural. The clothes are tailored so they fit him perfectly and all done up and standing in the shadow of the rose and thorn covered palace Taako thinks he’s _perfectly_ valid for taking one look at Kravitz, lying motionless on a couch, and deciding that twenty gold was enough money to make him kiss a corpse.

Magnus still owes him.

“I’m good,” Taako says, trying not to feel self-conscious about the fact that he’s dressed in a purple hoodie, sweatpants, and an old, soft t-shirt. It’s, you know, maybe not the _nicest_ outfit to wear to a reverse palace heist, but Taako was thinking more about comfort sneaking around and getting through a broken window than he was impressing Kravitz.

Not that he needs to impress Kravitz. Or wants to. He’s fine. Everything is fine.

Taako tucks a strand of hair behind his ear and shrugs, deliberately casual. “I could cast Planar Shift in my sleep if I wanted to. Cha’boy is a _baller_ wizard.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Kravitz says, smiling at him. “Still, I want to make sure—”

“All right, lovebirds. I thought we were trying to get inside fast,” Merle says, cracking his knuckles. “I’ve got a fine vine to impress.”

“Gross,” says Lup. “Taako, did we _really_ have to bring him?”

“Hey, baby,” Merle says, sidling up to one of the vines covering up the window they broke the last time they were breaking into the palace. He runs a hand along the length of it. “Did you miss me while I was gone? I just couldn’t stay away. I was wondering… you mind spreading for me again? You _know_ I loved getting inside you the other night.”

“This,” says Lucretia, faintly, “is what hell is like.”

Kravitz looks deeply troubled. Taako raises his hands to cover his ears because _yeah_ , Lucretia’s right—it’s necessary, but it’s the worst thing Taako has even been forced to listen to and he’s brought this upon himself multiple times in the last week.

Merle’s words are muffled, but the tone of his voice still comes through, and _boy_ Taako wishes he didn’t know what Merle sounded like when he was trying to talk dirty to something.

The vines shift, parting to reveal the broken window on the other side, and Taako does his best not to think about how much plants understand of Merle’s dirty talk as he drops his hands. “Okay, let’s go before the vines start getting handsy.”

“Do you think they would?” Merle asks, sounding intrigued. “I could stay behind.”

“ _Gross_ ,” says Lup again, with feeling. “We’re definitely not leaving you out here to find out. Up and at ‘em, Merle. You’ll see them again on the way out.”

“I hate to say this,” says Barry, “but maybe the vines are blossoming because of Merle?”

“ _Ugh_.” Taako gives Barry a disappointed look. He’d considered it too, but saying it with Merle _there_ was deeply troubling. “Why would you _say_ that? I don’t want to think about anything blossoming because of Merle.”

“You asked me to get you in!” Merle says, frowning at them. “This is kink shaming.”

“Yes, it is,” Taako agrees. “You deserve to be shamed.” He casts levitate on himself, walking into the air and up to the empty window frame. “Come on. We’re supposed to be actually helping Kravitz here.”

The room on the other side of the broken window is exactly how Taako remembers it—simultaneously old-fashioned and pristine, like someone just stepped out for a moment. He’s careful to avoid the broken glass as he touches down on the floor. He feels weirdly nervous about this. Not worried he’s going to get arrested because he’s _pretty_ sure everyone will be too busy freaking out over Kravitz to concern themselves over how Taako got into the house, but nervous about… maybe he _does_ like Kravitz. Maybe he’d like to get to know him better. Maybe that seems like something that’s _really_ not going to happen once Kravitz does his big reveal and the world finds out there’s a literal fairytale prince walking among them.

Taako hears crunching behind him as someone else enters and lands on the glass and wood he avoided, turning to see Kravitz, frowning down at his fancy boots. The evening sun streaming through the open window behind him glints off the embroidery on his suit. He is silhouetted with golden light and looks, even more than he did outside, like exactly what he is—a prince returned from the past. He looks achingly, ethereally attractive and Taako _likes_ him and it _sucks_.

Kravitz looks up at Taako and smiles. The lights in the room around them flicker to life, as if to emphasize Kravitz’s whole everything, which at this point is just rubbing it in.

“How did you and Merle become friends?” Kravitz asks, crossing the space between them as Lup follows him into the palace and then turns around to help Lucretia up. “It doesn’t seem like… a natural fit.”

“I should sure fuckin’ hope not,” Taako says, with feeling. He shrugs, glancing at Lucretia, who pulls out a notebook and starts taking rapid notes almost as soon as she gets into the room. “Merle was my advisor in undergrad and then when I got into grad school we kind of just started hanging out? Then I introduced him to Magnus and now I can’t get rid of him.” He pauses. “He’s gross, but he’s cool.”

“This place is perfectly preserved!” Lucretia says, striding over to them, eyes bright. “There’s virtually no dust, none of the colours on anything have faded—why would they? There hasn’t been any sunlight through the windows. Do you know what a treasure trove this is for historians?” She looks at Kravitz with renewed interest. “We should be interviewing you for oral histories.”

Taako steps between the two of them. “Okay, okay—we brought you here as a favour. You can pelt him with questions _after_ he does his grand reveal. How much time do we have?”

Lup gets her stone of farspeech out, glancing down at the clock. “It’s almost five. We should get to the front doors and get ready to go live whenever they do their _Palace Watch!_ update.”

Merle hauls himself through the window, followed by Barry. 

“The lights are on,” Barry says, surprised. “I thought everything would be dormant in here.”

“Oh, that’s me,” says Kravitz. He gestures towards one of the lamps and it turns off. “The palace is mine—it responds to me.”

“The lights are on when someone’s home,” Lup says, looking around the room. There’s a definite air of assessment in her gaze. Taako is glad he’s not the only sibling willing to rob a national monument that is also Kravitz’s house.

“Okay, people,” Taako says, clapping his hands to get their attention. He’s gonna focus on helping Kravitz get his home back and after that… he doesn’t know, but he’ll figure it out. “It’s almost go time—we’ve got a prince to get to the front door and news feeds to monitor. Let’s get this show on the road.”

#

Wearing his own clothes again is like having armour. Kravitz knows he looks good like this and, more importantly, he looks like a prince. If he wants the world to believe he is who he says he is, he needs to start out on the best foot possible.

There’s a lot riding on him convincing a whole kingdom full of people that his claim is legitimate. His stomach is all tied up in knots and he _should_ focus on what he’s going to say if their plan works and the TV crew outside wants to interview him, but he keeps looking at Taako, standing with his sister and his friends talking about the magic that has kept the castle safe for five hundred years, and worrying about whether or not he’ll see him again.

It’s a stupid thing to focus on now. He’ll probably have to stay with Taako for a while longer anyway. Kravitz doubts they’re just going to _hand_ his palace back to him. Taako likes spending time together—their trip to the bar and the walk home under the starless sky proved that—but fate is a lot to throw at someone you just met. Kravitz didn’t think about that before, when the curse was a distant thing he and his mother planned his life around. Kravitz had time to get used to the idea of true love. Taako just had it shoved into his lap.

It’s been five hundred years. Things have changed. Kravitz doesn’t want Taako to feel beholden to a goddess he doesn’t even worship.

“Hey Krav, you good?” 

Kravitz blinks, pulled from his brooding by Taako’s question, and smiles. “Performance anxiety,” he says, smiling wider when Taako laughs. “I’m good. How’s the news?”

“Boring,” says Taako, shrugging a shoulder. “Lucretia promised to actually keep an eye on it. Barry and Lup are too busy being nerds about the spells on everything. Barry thinks the shielding and vines are all tangled up with the blood magic tying you to the palace. Lup’s gonna keep him from hanging out the window to collect samples or whatever. Merle is… you know, he’s Merle.”

Kravitz met Taako two days ago. Kravitz is hopelessly fond of him. He takes Taako’s hand in his, pulling him further away from his friends. “Taako, I need to thank you,” he says. “You didn’t have to help me with all of this.”

“I didn’t, but I don’t know—you’re pretty cool. Don’t make a big deal about it.” Taako frowns at Kravitz. “You know they’re gonna believe you, right? You’ve got paintings of yourself here. The palace is obviously tied to you. It’s gonna be fine.”

Kravitz is going about this the wrong way if Taako thinks he’s looking for reassurance. “That’s not—I mean, I am worried about that, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Taako’s hand is warm in his. Kravitz wants to keep holding it, so he does. “I want to talk about the curse.”

Taako frowns at him. “O… kay,” he says, drawing out the syllables. “Is now really the time? We’re, uh, kind of in the middle of something here.”

“I’ll have to explain it. Publically.” Kravitz raises his eyebrows. “Which includes explaining why _now_.”

Taako winces. “Fuck,” he says. “The whole world’s gonna know I kissed a dead body, huh? They’re gonna know I thought kissing a corpse was worth twenty gold.”

Kravitz laughs. “They could,” he agrees. “Or we could—change that.” Kravitz doesn’t really have a plan for an alternative to true love’s kiss, but Taako deserves to have a say in this too. It’s his story too.

Kravitz wants to spend more time with Taako, but he doesn’t want Taako to feel trapped.

“I don’t plan on telling anyone about true love’s kiss,” Kravitz says, watching Taako carefully. 

A frown flickers over Taako’s face and then his expression settles into confusion—maybe annoyance. Kravitz can’t read him. “Okay, but—”

Kravitz is going about this the wrong way. This is what he gets for spending his formative years expecting true love to come along and make feelings easy for him. He shakes his head, squeezing Taako’s hand. “What I mean is, I don’t want to take away your choice, Taako. I like you. I’d like to get to know you better—to spend more time together. The terms and conditions of the curse aren’t as important as your free will.” Kravitz quirks an eyebrow at Taako, smiling. “So you don’t have to worry that I’m going to tell the world you thought I was dead and wanted an excuse to kiss me anyway.”

Taako lets out a startled laugh and hits Kravitz’s free arm. “God, Lucretia thinks you’re polite and _charming_ ,” he says. “You’re an _asshole_.”

Kravitz shakes his head. “I’m very charming. You just bring this out in me.”

“Your worst character traits?”

“You make me feel like I can relax around you.” Kravitz’s smile softens as he looks at Taako, in his awful modern clothes, still one of the most gorgeous people he’s ever seen. “I don’t care about fate, Taako. I care about you.”

“God,” says Taako. “You’re the _worst_.”

Kravitz doesn’t have time to respond to the insult because suddenly his arms are full of Taako and Taako’s lips are pressed to his, soft and demanding at the same thing. Kravitz pulls Taako closer, holding him against his chest as Taako’’s mouth falls open and the kiss deepens. Kravitz could lose himself in this—in the way his whole body feels electrified by Taako’s touch.

He’s very, very grateful to be awake for this kiss.

“Gross! Taako, _please!_ ”

Lup’s voice cuts through the kiss and makes them stop, although Taako doesn’t bother pulling back—just turns his head to glare at his sister. “What?” he demands. “We’re _busy_.”

“Okay,” says Lup. “One, we’re _all_ here. Is not _really_ the time to make out? Two, look outside.”

Kravitz glances at the window. All he _should_ see is the back of the vines, but there’s sunlight peeking through—he can see purple sky through the vines. Sky, and a burst of bright pink petals.

The flowers on the vines are blooming.

“The news cut to the palace,” says Lucretia, holding up her phone. “They’re showing the blossoms.”

Kravitz looks down at Taako. His lips are red from kissing.

Taako pats his chest and pulls away. “Okay, we’re gonna hook after this, no doubt,” he says, reaching up to straighten the frill on Kravitz’s shirt. “But there’s never been a better time for a dramatic reveal, handsome.” Taako glances up, meeting his eyes, and grins. “Double or nothing on that pizza—they’re gonna eat this up.”

Kravitz laughs. “You’re going to have to wait until I figure out real money to collect my debt.”

“It’s fine,” says Taako, gesturing at the palace around them. “You’re good for it. Besides, I’m not going anywhere.”

Kravitz ducks his head to kiss Taako one more time and almost misses the sound of the shield outside popping like a giant bubble. Signs and fate can say all they want—what’s important is how good it feels to be close to Taako and to have Taako close to him. The palace, the spell, the news—it can all wait.

Taako pushes him back, laughing against his lips. “ _Go_ ,” he says, and Kravitz does, his nerves gone now—Taako will be there when he gets back. They have a pizza debt to settle and maybe, if Kravitz is lucky, more dates.

With that waiting for him on the other side, it’s easy to step through the palace doors and into the spotlight. This thing between him and Taako is tentative and new. It’s not what he thought breaking the curse would be like—not happily ever after—but it’s something he gets to shape for himself. He never got to do that before. 

His whole life was laid out for him and now, for the first time, Kravitz is well and truly in charge. He doesn’t know what the future holds—Taako, music, pizza, an open mic night where he gets on stage—but he’s the one who gets to decide what comes next.

He’s looking forward to finding out what it will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed this story please leaves a comment and kudos!! I really appreciate them and you <3
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr, where I'm [@marywhal](https://marywhal.tumblr.com/)! Come say hello!

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed this chapter! The second part of the fic will be up later this week.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr, where I'm [@marywhal](http://marywhal.tumblr.com)! Come say hello!! <3


End file.
